Childhood Development of Sexual and Gender Minority Children

Introduction: A Unique Minority Group

One might initially think it odd to open a discussion of minority childhood development by focusing on children who will grow up to be sexual and gender-identity minorities. Unlike most other minorities, these children are not generally raised within a minority culture or family, and do not have the immediate support of their own racial or cultural community to help prepare them for life as a minority. In some ways, then, this is actually the ideal place to begin such a discussion, because it provides unmitigated access to the experience of minority status and its effects on development — without the sheltering environment that surrounds other minority children.

These children will, in the majority of cases, emerge from the crucible of childhood as homosexual or possibly bisexual adults. A smaller number will go on to have their gender physically altered (Ceglie). Gender dysphoric children experience many of the same developmental difficulties as other minorities, but they also face challenges specific to their situation: problems with gender roles and body image, difficulties with attachment and social development, heightened exposure to aggression and victimization, unique conflicts with parents, and broader patterns of social dysfunction.

Evidence That Sexual and Gender Minorities Exist in Childhood

Before examining the specific developmental issues faced by this minority, it is worth acknowledging that some may be skeptical that such a minority exists among children at all. Because society tends to deny any sexual identity among those under eighteen, the existence of sexual minorities in childhood may seem counterintuitive. However, a growing body of research has shown that both male homosexuality and gender dysphoria have biological roots (Swan), and one should therefore expect to find transgender children just as one finds transgender adults.

According to an interview with Louis Gooren, who heads research at the Dutch National Clinic for Gender Dysphoria, evidence of being transgender typically appears in very early childhood and often needs to be addressed by the time a child is five or six years old (Swan). As one social worker who works extensively with the families of transgender children explains, as awareness of the issue grows, more parents are seeking help while their children are still very young: "She is campaigning to widen the availability of treatment and receives up to eight inquiries a week from parents of children unhappy with their gender. 'One family has a child of seven who has wanted to be a girl since he was four,' she said. 'He exhibits all the signs of cross-gender behaviour.'" (Rogers)

Nor is this a matter of gender hysteria forcing young children into strange gender predicaments. A follow-up study of transsexual adolescents who, after careful assessment, began the process of sex reassignment during adolescence (after age 16) found that they had achieved a good level of psychological and social adjustment at least one year after surgical intervention (Cohen-Kettenis & van Goozen, 1997, as cited in Ceglie). Consistent clinical and anecdotal evidence suggests that sexual minorities are innately aware of their status from the earliest moments of childhood, even before such feelings have names. In cases where the reality of their feelings was denied, children were very negatively affected — sometimes to the point of violence toward themselves or others. This evidence makes clear why childhood development has become a central concern in the study of this population.

Gender Identity and the Nature-Nurture Debate

Some aspects of child development are directly affected by minority status, while others are affected in a more secondary fashion. The most immediately obvious domain is gender identity itself. Child psychologists have long debated whether gender differences arise from the way children are raised or from a more general biological basis. For some time, the case study of Joan/John — as presented by Dr. Money — was believed to prove conclusively that gender development was a matter of nurture. However, retrospective analysis reveals that John maintained faith in his masculinity throughout and never wished to be anything other than a boy; he ultimately lived and functioned as a male, despite having been raised as female. The predominant explanation today, accordingly, is one grounded in nature rather than nurture.

Consistent with this view, accounts of very young children who regard their biological gender as a "mistake" — or as something they will eventually grow out of — are common. One can imagine that this discomfort within their own bodies would lead to a broader rejection of the ideas of self and body that ordinary development would otherwise be forming at this age. Less directly, members of this minority group may show other developmental effects of their status. While this has not been studied as extensively as one would wish, anecdotal evidence is suggestive. These children not infrequently display avoidant attachment patterns, owing to the frequency with which parental rejection is an issue, or they become clingy toward the parent who makes them feel most secure.

Conclusion: Society's Role in Compounding Developmental Difficulties

These problems occur for a number of reasons. A large part of it is certainly the majority culture and, to some degree, a human tendency to force children into gender roles even when those roles do not fit — a tendency that generally refuses to take children's internal experiences seriously and is inclined to reject or punish that which it does not fully understand. However, it must also be acknowledged that some of these problems arise from the very nature of the minority group itself. At this early stage, the group is partly defined by dysphoria, and navigating from infancy into adulthood requires both maturing through that dysphoria and developing the resilience to handle ongoing conflict.

As this discussion has shown, children with gender dysphoria — who will as adolescents and adults form what is broadly known as sexual minority groups — constitute a particularly needy segment of the minority population. Unlike many other minorities, this group is partly defined by difficulties intrinsic to the developmental process itself. Yet this might be a more manageable burden were it not for the additional weight that the surrounding society heaps upon young people who are just beginning to express themselves and to find their place within this minority group.

References

ACPM. "Report XX of the Council on Scientific Affairs." American College of Preventive Medicine.

Ceglie, Domenico. "Gender Identity Disorder in Young People." Advances in Psychiatric Treatment (2000), vol. 6, pp. 458–466. http://www.mermaids.freeuk.com/gidyp.html

Mermaids. "Newspaper Archive." http://www.mermaids.freeuk.com/newarch.html

Rogers, Lois. "Children of 14 Get Sex Change Treatment on NHS." The Sunday Times, 12 Oct. 1997.

Swan, Norman. "Gender Dysphoria." The Health Report with Norman Swan, 2000. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/helthrpt/stories/s171717.htm