Anderson Cooper Features Transgender Youth And Families On 'Anderson' Talk Show

Anderson Cooper is set to discuss the social and emotional issues faced by both transgender children and their parents on today's installment of his daytime talk show.

According to his website, Anderson "speaks with experts to get a better understanding of the medical and psychological aspects of transgenders, and how these families are faced with new scientific options that would allow their kids to change their gender." He will also chat with Domaine Javier, a transgender woman recently expelled from college for applying as a female, and Kyle Allums, the first transgender Division 1 basketball player.

Among his guests are Danann, who insisted she was a girl despite being born male, and whose parents helped her make the transition to living as a girl at age six. “It was like night and day… a totally different child,” says Danann's mother.

Sunday will mark the International Transgender Day Of Remembrance to memorialize those who have been killed, attacked or bullied out of transphobia.

Watch Anderson speak with Danann and her parents in two exclusive clips from today's show below:

Comments

[Basal Pinyon Think]

01:11 AM on 02/01/2012

I am so happy for her. She is the cutest little girl I've ever seen and I'm glad she has parents who understand her.

[rr52]

07:25 PM on 01/10/2012

I commented on Anderson Cooper's website when this show aired. I've wanted to write about a rise in transgender children due to endocrine interrupters and hormones in our water supply. But just like homosexuality, there are no real statistics that show there is a rise in transgender children. It may be that parents are coming forward more and more relative to it. More transgender children may occur due to a rise in population also since there are more than just male, females naturally occurring in nature anyway. The word "natural" is important.

However, I have found statistics that show there is a tremendous rise in transgender fish and mammals over the last decade or so. There are many studies and articles that suggest what I'm thinking. It's quite possible pollution specifically endocrine interrupters and animal waste is a culprit. We consume far too many animals for one and the CAFO business has caused widespread pollution in too many states.

Until there are solid statistics, all we can do is support these children. We do know for a fact that endocrine interrupters from industrial pollution mixed with all sorts of toxins are in our water. And breast cancer is stimulated by certain hormones. But a recent study found that hormones are readily biodegradeabe when they hit open water. So pills and urine are not the underlying culprit. Contamination must be from discharge at industrial levels. BTW nothing but expensive reverse osmosis will remove hormones at that level from our water.

[Sam Damon]

07:51 PM on 01/06/2012

I'm not sure what good a television appearance is going to do any of them in dealing with an already difficult situation?

[CASnyder]

12:39 AM on 12/22/2011

Both Danann & Bobby (transgender girl scout wannabee) deserve to be allowed to live their lives without the public hoopla. These kids have already been through enough discrimination & judgement, and we should honor their courage in being themselves. The parents & scout leaders who are freaking need to get a grip - these are just children, they don't have a disease that's catching, unless it is happiness when allowed to be themselves. If I had a daughter or a son I wouldn't hesitate to let them be friends with these kids, or even to date them when they all were in their late teens and mature enough for dating. You go girls!

[jordynn]

02:31 AM on 12/16/2011

i would really love to meet tyler

[jordynn]

02:28 AM on 12/16/2011

i would really love to meet that transgender boy who was a girl with the blue shirt on the show

[bramachari]

08:05 PM on 12/04/2011

I wonder if Anderson will have the kid back on if she/he snaps out of this one day.

[BluestateGuyInTX]

04:08 PM on 01/03/2012

One hopes you will snap out of whatever is motivating your prejudice.

[tonidnewman]

10:27 PM on 11/26/2011

I noticed there was not 1 minority child on the show since Minority families find it very hard to accept this. It was great to see families letting the children be who they are but for minority children it is not accepted, not allowed, and not permissible at all.

[MissAstrid]

03:45 AM on 11/22/2011

Why are there so many people against letting a child be the gender they feel they are? Just because you were born male or female and actually FEEL like the gender you are doesn't mean that everybody else feels exactly like you do.

Also, there is a lot of misinformation being spread by these naysayers. This has nothing to do with being 'gay' or 'straight'. It's about being male or female. I have known of straight men who felt like they were actually women inside. They transitioned and did not become straight women, but lesbian women.

[Andrea M Vidmar]

11:34 PM on 11/20/2011

I hope today has brought some comfort to all of us who have lost loved ones to senseless reasons. I am happy to say that there ARE people who do what they can to make a difference and help. They really need everyone's help right now though, it takes 2 minutes and it's totally free to help. TRANSYOUTH FAMILY ALLIES is a non profit who fight for equality and to stop discrimination. TYFA has been in the running to receive grant money in the Chase Community Giving that is ending tomorrow. Today (sadly of all days) they have fallen below the 100 mark to secure this money that would be used to help so many. Please like the chase app on your facebook and vote for TRANSYOUTH FAMILY ALLIES before they run out of time. Let's all help TYFA and other organizations who work so hard to make Equality a reality for all.
http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/208050977-transyouth-family-allies-inc

[warbladex1]

08:54 PM on 11/19/2011

the kid sounds nice but as she gets older shes gona have to deal with the world. i just hope she is as strong as they make her out to be. teenage years are hard enough...thats where you find out truely who you are. you make it past them years and you can tell the world, ohh well, this is who i am. although inside its not like that because of the world around you. you still have to put on that charisma though it helps alot in life, best of luck to yah

[Valerie Keefe]

04:46 AM on 11/21/2011

Actually kids who transition at that age have it easy, since they have one puberty instead of two, and it's the one that works for them instead of feeling like a body-destroying betrayal.

[warbladex1]

08:27 PM on 11/21/2011

umm as far as i know we only have one puberty and when that happens, that means we start thinking about our well being, instead of what we want. i don't have a problem with lgbt people but i really think this kid is too young to be making a life threatening decision like this. the kid can't posibly understand how to shrug negitivity of the world off her shoulders. thats where the mental and real problems come in. its a shot in the dark that young but hopefully it works out.

[hackerblaster]

08:04 AM on 11/23/2011

You got that right.

[Misterioso Adversario]

01:07 PM on 11/18/2011

Kid rules, parents rule, this whole video rules.

[Mindy Czech]

10:56 AM on 11/17/2011

I wish he would talk to Kim Petras and her family. That young woman is nothing short of remarkable. She is so gorgeous and effeminate, especially because she started transitioning right before puberty hit and didn't get any of those pesky masculine features that many trans women have a hard time getting rid of. If she hadn't gone forward publically, no one ever would have known that she was born with a penis. But even before the transition, chemicals and surgery, she looked very effeminate. Lovely, beautiful and talented woman all around.

[libwingoflibwing]

11:47 AM on 11/17/2011

I really don't understand this attitude.

What you are saying is that a child who is convinced she is really one gender and not the assigned gender ought to be forced to live in the assigned gender simply because she is a child and, what is worse, FORCED to go through the puberty of a sex she rejects.

I really don't get it. If the child is making a mistake and she is allowed to make this mistake the worse thing that can happen on this is that she lives as her mistakenly chosen gender as a child, block puberty and then when she is old enough to make up her own mind decides she was wrong and then goes through the puberty of her assigned sex. The only result I'd see from all this is someone who really is empathetic to the opposite sex.

But think about the drawbacks if your view is the norm and the child isn't mistaken. The scenario here is that she is miserable all her childhood, unable to hide who she is and instead of seen as someone who is different just seen as a freak (after all everything is saying she ought not feel what she feels,) and then forced to go through puberty.

continued

[libwingoflibwing]

11:48 AM on 11/17/2011

part 2

The best scenario for this is when she is old enough she has to spend tens of thousands of dollars on undoing that puberty, going through terribly intense acute pain for years doing this and still she may never totally undo the effects of puberty well enough to be perceived in her life as who she is. A worse scenario is the child can't take it and runs away at puberty to transition on the streets, a life of danger. The worst scenario is the child sees no options and commits suicide.

I really don't get this attitude. WHY IS IT SO WRONG FOR A CHILD TO CHOOSE HER OWN GENDER?

Obviously your position is based on ignoring the realities of individual's lives and modern science and based on religious views of sex that got incorporated into Christianity because St. Augustine thought the sex he so deeply wanted was "icky." Augustine had some great insights, in my opinion, but his views on sexuality were dysfunctional and due to his otherwise powerful impact on Western Christianity they got infused in it too. We don't need the repression of 16th Century Geneva, 17th Century Puritanism and 19th Century Victorianism.

[FantasticFourFan]

09:15 AM on 11/17/2011

Cue angry right wingers blaming the mother in 3...2...

[ramp613]

10:25 AM on 11/17/2011

See below. They're already blaming the parents.

[adelynmetze]

12:17 AM on 11/18/2011

Your post made me laugh out loud. It's so sad that it's so true.