A video clip from a new HBO documentary shows the mother of a toddler attempting to make the child announce a new gender preference in front of a crowd of people.
“Watch these adults push a toddler dressed in rainbow clothing to publicly announce that he is a girl named ‘Phoenix’ who would ‘prefer she and her pronouns,’” said Daily Caller News Foundation reporter Mary Margaret Olohan on Twitter, accompanied by a video of the incident. “I’m a little shy,’ the toddler says, when offered the microphone to make the announcement.”
Watch these adults push a toddler dressed in rainbow clothing to publicly announce that he is a girl named “Phoenix” who would “prefer she and her pronouns.”
“I’m a little shy,” the toddler says, when offered the microphone to make the announcement.pic.twitter.com/jfVHv7p7dT
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) November 23, 2020
“You’re a little shy? Do you want to tell everybody if you’re a boy or a girl,” the mother says.
“I just want to tell them that I’m a girl,” the child answers.
When the child still refuses to speak to the audience, the mother announced that “Phoenix would like you to know that she’s a girl, and she prefers she and her pronouns.”
The child is then handed a ceremonial flower while the crowd responds, “May you be well, safe, and whole. We honor you exactly as you are.”
The clip is originally from the HBO documentary Transhood, which follows four Kansas City children that identify as transgender.
The child in the clip is the youngest of the four children followed in the documentary and was 4 when filming began. At the age of 7, the child changes back to identifying as a boy. The mother in the clip has reportedly shown regret about the incident, saying she now sees transgender identity as a “mental disorder.”
“I’m glad I changed. I like this me a lot more,” the mother said.
Transhood Director Sharon Liese believes that young children often already know that they identify as transgender.
“It’s not unusual that kids know [that they are transgender] when they are young,” Liese said during an interview with Time. “People ask me, ‘How do kids know when they are 4 years old?’ I quickly realized that is not the question. The question is, how do you not believe them?”
“You really just need to love your kids, and let them lead, and that you can never go wrong by affirming your child,” Liese continued.
