“Youth, Interrupted” is a series on trans teens in the United States whose lives have been dramatically disrupted by anti-trans “bathroom bills” and other political battles. Watch from the series here.
Ten years ago, four-year-old Trinity was depressed and despondent. Her mother DeShanna would call her name—which wasn’t Trinity then—and she wouldn’t turn; instead, she would continue staring blankly elsewhere. DeShanna didn’t realize then that Trinity was a girl.
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At the time, the word “transgender” was still culturally obscure. But Trinity kept telling her mother and her teachers that she wasn’t a boy—and when DeShanna finally allowed her to live as a girl, she transformed from a clinically depressed child into a normal, happy little girl.
But new problems quickly arose for the Neal family when the elementary school that Trinity was about to attend reacted with hostility to DeShanna’s transgender daughter. The school refused to treat Trinity like a girl, and so DeShanna was forced to pull her children from public education, quit her job, and homeschool them.
