Parents of transgender student tell their story

Savannah, GA (WSAV) – As debate continues over whether or not transgender people should be allowed to use the bathroom they identify with, schools have come to the forefront of the issue.

Young transgender boys and girls are caught in the middle of the controversy, and WSAV in Georgia got the chance to meet the parents of one girl who say her school has gone out of their way to make her transition an easy one.

When their child was born, she was assigned the sexual identity of male, but they could tell pretty quickly it didn’t exactly fit.

“She was, you know, from the time she could walk putting on heels and dresses,” said the girl’s mother, who asked to remain anonymous to protect the 7-year-old’s identity.

At 5-years-old, when she told her parents she wanted to be a girl, they began to socially transition her and set up a meeting with the principal of her Savannah Chatham County Public Schools elementary school to discuss the change.

“[The principal] came into the meeting having done a little bit of research which was awesome, and we made a plan for the next school year,” said the girl’s mother. “The next year her hair was longer but she’s the same person, and all the kids recognize that.”

That plan included that their daughter was allowed to use girl’s bathroom, as well as the one in the nurses office.