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Reuters

Health

Daniel Trotta and Amanda Voisard

Nine-year-old who defies labels helps teach educators about queer youth

Keegan, 8, who identifies as gender creative, drag name Kween-Kee-Kee, poses for a photograph after completing his first drag performance during the Austin International Drag Festival 2018 near Austin, Texas, U.S., November, 18, 2018. REUTERS/Amanda Voisard

(Reuters) - When a third-grade teacher from Texas asked her mostly 8-year-old students what they wanted to be when they grow up, one of them wrote on the white board: "drag queen."

That response came from Keegan, now 9, a "gender creative" kid, in his mother's words, illustrating just one of the challenges facing educators as they accommodate the range of gender identities that students might express.

Keegan, 9, who identifies as gender creative, plays video games with his mother Megan, 33, at their home near Austin, Texas, U.S., May 17, 2019. REUTERS/Amanda Voisard

Reuters has agreed not to fully identify the family and school at their request to protect them from potential harassment.

Educators who for centuries have divided students into boys and girls are now figuring out better ways to address students who are nonbinary, gender fluid and gender nonconforming, in addition to transgender kids, whose gender identity differs from the one they were assigned at birth.

By one survey nearly 3 percent of youth in Minnesota fall under these categories, identifying with neither gender, or both, or trans, or just defying a traditional male/female binary option.

Keegan (C-R), 9, who identifies as gender creative, his brother Noah, 10, parents, Megan, 33, father, Chris (C), 34, take a trip with his drag queen mentors, Robby (R), 26, and Alex, 27, to Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts to buy fabric near Austin, Texas, U.S., May. 11, 2019. REUTERS/Amanda Voisard

Some school districts in the United States are using more gender-neutral language, addressing students by their preferred pronouns, which can be "they," "them," "theirs" for an individual, or the invented "zie," "zir," "zirs," which are used as a substitute. Some schools also allow students to easily change their preferred name or gender identity.

The degree of acceptance for such students can literally be a matter of life and death, experts say.

A national survey of 34,000 LGBTQ youth aged 13 to 24 released last week found 39 percent seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months, as did more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth, according to the Trevor Project, a pro-LGBTQ group focused on suicide prevention.

Keegan, 9, who identifies as gender creative, and his mother Megan, 33, chat in Keegan's room outside his drag closet where he keeps most of his costumes out of direct view, at their home near Austin, Texas, U.S., May 22, 2019. REUTERS/Amanda Voisard

Another study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health in 2018 and based on a cohort study of 129 trans and gender nonconforming youth aged 15 to 21, found that suicide attempts plummet 65 percent and depression symptoms fall 71 percent if they are allowed to use their chosen name at school, home, and work, and with friends.

The issue comes up long before adolescence as gender identity typically manifests itself in children by kindergarten.

"What's at stake is nothing less than the future lives of these children and own health as a society," said Eliza Byard, executive director of GLSEN, a national advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students.

Keegan, 8, who identifies as gender creative, is comforted by his father, Chris, 33, while attending a drag lesson at the home of his drag queen mentors, Robby and Alex, near Austin, Texas, U.S., August 14, 2018. REUTERS/Amanda Voisard

"We still live in a world where the most marginalized are not receiving the support and affirmation that they need in order to achieve academically and thrive personally. And we all will benefit when that is true," Byard said.

STONEWALL LEGACY

Robby, a drag queen, 25, helps Keegan, 8, who identifies as gender creative, rehearse for his upcoming inaugural drag performance at the home Robby shares with his husband Alex near Austin, Texas, U.S., October 26, 2018. REUTERS/Amanda Voisard

Transgender rights have risen to the fore in recent years and as LGBTQ people prepare to mark the 50th anniversary since the Stonewall uprising of June 28, 1969. The protests by patrons of a New York City gay bar, who fought back against police harassment, is considered the birth of the modern LGBTQ rights movement.

Keegan is one student who has benefited from the Stonewall legacy.

Keegan (R), 9, who identifies as gender creative, wrestles around with his friend Bishop, during his 9th birthday party at his home near Austin, Texas, U.S., May 10, 2019. REUTERS/Amanda Voisard

(GRAPHIC: STONEWALL 50 - https://tmsnrt.rs/2X5X2Q4)

He plays soccer and video games and also likes to dress as a girl, using the name Kween-Kee-Kee when in drag, his parents say. Among his mentors are a pair of real-life adult drag queens. He usually goes by the pronouns "he," "him" and "his."

Keegan, 8, who identifies as gender creative, rehearses for his upcoming inaugural drag performance at the home of his drag queen mentors, Robby and Alex, near Austin, Texas, U.S., October 26, 2018. REUTERS/Amanda Voisard

Keegan has found acceptance and support at his school in a conservative, Christian suburb outside of Austin, Texas, his mother said.

"We expected a lot of pushback from the school and we expected some intolerance, but we've been very surprised," said Keegan's mother.

Keegan's teacher paid close attention during the lesson on financial literacy, when other students aspired to be doctors and dentists and Keegan wrote "drag queen."

Keegan, 8, who identifies as gender creative, reacts to his peers during class at his 3rd grade elementary school near Austin, Texas, U.S., May 3, 2019. REUTERS/Amanda Voisard

"One of the students asked, 'What's that?' and Keegan kind of said 'I don't know' and moved past it," said his teacher.

"But I do see little, like, hints of him trying to make people aware that this is something that he is, something that he does."

Neither Keegan's teacher nor his principal said they received any formal training on educating gender nonconforming students and have worked with intuition and observation.

Keegan (R), 8, who identifies as gender creative, plays with his older brother, Noah, 10, outside their family home following a drag lesson with his drag queen mentors, Robby and Alex, near Austin, Texas, U.S., August 14, 2018. REUTERS/Amanda Voisard

The teacher wants to let Keegan bring up the subject "at his own pace."

His parents, too, have wanted to "let Keegan be himself" and not impose any norms on him. They said they were surprised on Friday when, five years after he first started wearing dresses and a full year after they began cooperating with a photographer on this project, he said he was gay.

Minneapolis Public Schools in Minnesota offer some of the most extensive guidelines for teachers, students and parents as part of its Out4Good program supporting LGBTQ children, outlining polices developed over 20 years on names and pronouns, gendered activities and facilities, and safety and bullying, said Jason Bucklin, the Out4Good coordinator.

Robby, a drag queen, 25, embraces Keegan, 8, who identifies as gender creative, as Keegan's mother Megan, 32, looks on following a rehearsal for Keegan's upcoming inaugural drag performance, at the home Robby shares with his husband Alex near Austin, Texas, U.S., October 26, 2018. REUTERS/Amanda Voisard

Some 2.7% of Minnesota high school students identify as transgender or gender nonconforming, according to a 2017 University of Minnesota study.

A gender-inclusive curriculum can prevent the kind of bullying that typically begins in grade school and can evolve into homophobia by middle school and sexual harassment or dating violence by high school, Bucklin said.

"It isn't just about the transgender students," Bucklin said. "It is about bringing everybody into the classroom and having the ability to feel successful."