Why kids need to learn about gender and sexuality | Lindsay Amer

Translator: Henar Meilán Martínez Reviewer: Xosé María Moreno

Alright, let's get this kicked off.

Ben, comecemos.

(Music)

(Música)

(Singing) It's OK to be gay.

(Cantando) Está ben ser gai!

We are different in many ways.

Somos diferentes de moitos xeitos

Doesn't matter if you're a boy, girl or somewhere in between,

É igual se es neno, nena ou algo intermedio

we all are part of one big family.

Todos somos parte dunha gran familia

Gay means "happy."

"Gai" significa "feliz"

Queer Kid Stuff.

Queer Kid Stuff.

You are enough

Ti es suficiente

here at Queer Kid Stuff.

en Queer Kid Stuff.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

Opening a performance with lyrics like "It's OK to be gay"

Comezar cantando "Está ben ser gai"

for a roomful of adults is one thing,

diante de adultos é unha cousa,

but it's entirely different for a roomful of kindergartners.

outra cousa totalmente distinta é facelo diante de nenos.

What you've just heard is the theme song for my web series "Queer Kid Stuff,"

Acaban de escoitar a canción da miña serie "Queer Kid Stuff",

where I make LGBTQ+ and social justice videos for all ages.

onde fago vídeos LGTBQ+ e de xustiza social para todas as idades.

And when I say all ages, I mean literal babies

E cando digo todas as idades, quero dicir dende meniños

to your great-great-grandma.

ata as súas tataravoas.

Now, I know what you're thinking:

Eu sei o que estarán pensando:

"Whoa, they're talking about gay stuff with kids."

"Vaia, falar cos nenos de cousas gais"

But talking to kids about gay stuff is actually crucial.

Pero falarlles disto aos nenos resulta crucial.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has found

A Academia Americana de Pediatría afirma

that children have a solid understanding of their gender identity

que os nenos son conscientes da súa identidade de xénero

by the age of four.

dende os catro anos.

Aí os nenos están desenvolvendo a súa propia identidade.

This is when children are developing their sense of self.

Están observando o mundo que os rodea,

They're observing the world around them,

absorbing that information

absorbendo a información

and internalizing it.

e interiorizándoa.

Now, most parents want their children to become kind, empathetic,

A maioría de pais quere que os seus fillos sexan

adultos bos, empáticos e con seguridade,

self-confident adults,

and exposure to diversity is an important part

e a exposición á diversidade é importante

of that social and emotional development.

para ese desenvolvemento social e emotivo.

And -- gender nonconforming kids

E os nenos de xénero disconforme

and trans kids and kids with trans and nonbinary and queer parents

e os nenos trans e os nenos con pais queer ou de xénero non binario

existen e están en todas partes.

are everywhere.

In the series, my stuffed bear cohost and I talk about the LGBT community,

Na serie, o oso de peluche e mais eu falamos da comunidade LGTB,

activism, gender and pronouns,

de activismo, xénero e pronomes,

consent and body positivity.

consentimento e de corpos en positivo.

We tackle these topics through songs,

Introducimos os temas con cancións,

not unlike the one you just heard,

parecidas á que acaban de escoitar,

simple definitions and metaphors.

con definicións sinxelas e metáforas.

We approach these ideas, to steal a phrase from an old professor of mine,

Acercámonos ás ideas, como diría unha antiga mestra,

from "under the doorknob" --

situándonos á altura dun neno,

poñéndonos no seu lugar

getting down to toddler height

and looking up at the great big world through their tiny little eyes,

e mirando cara a arriba ao gran mundo que está perante os seus pequenos ollos,

taking these seemingly complex ideas and simplifying them --

collendo estas ideas que parecen complexas e simplificándoas,

not dumbing them down,

non reducíndoas a algo simplón,

but homing in on the core concept.

senón englobándoas nun concepto central.

Gender is about how we feel and how we express ourselves.

O xénero é a maneira na que nos sentimos e na que nos expresamos.

Sexuality is about love and gender and family,

A sexualidade está relacionada co amor, o xénero e a familia,

not about sex.

non co sexo.

And these are all ideas children can grasp.

E estas son ideas que os nenos poden comprender

In one of my earliest episodes about gender,

Nun dos primeiros episodios sobre xénero,

I used the idea of pronouns

Falei do concepto dos pronomes

to underscore the definition and introduce gender-neutral pronouns

para minimizar a súa definición e introducir pronomes de xénero neutro

like "they" and "them."

como "ele".

I encourage children to think about their own pronouns

Animo aos nenos a pensar nos seus propios pronomes

and to ask others for theirs.

e a preguntar aos demáis cales son os seus.

In later episodes, I build on this foundation

En episodios posteriores, apoiándome nesta base

introducín palabras máis guais como "non binario" e "transxénero".

and introduce big fancy words like "nonbinary" and "transgender."

Recibo correos de xente de 20 anos

I get emails from viewers in their 20s

who use my videos to explain nonbinary gender to their grandparents.

que usan os meus vídeos para falarlles aos avós do xénero non binario.

But, I get one comment over and over again:

Pero tamén recibo un comentario, unha e outra vez:

"Let kids be kids."

"Hai que deixar aos nenos ser nenos".

Well, that's a nice sentiment and all,

Si, é unha idea bonita,

but only if it actually includes all kids.

pero só, se inclúe a todos os nenos.

Just a few weeks ago,

Hai só unhas semanas,

un rapaz de 15 anos de Huntsville, Alabama

a 15-year-old in Huntsville, Alabama

died by suicide after being bullied for being gay.

suicidouse tras sufrir acoso por ser gai.

In 2018, it was a seven-year-old

En 2018, foi un neno de 7 anos

in Denver, Colorado.

en Denver, Colorado.

There have been and will be many more.

Houbo e haberá moitos máis.

Lesbian, gay and bisexual teens

Lesbianas, gais e bisexuais adolescentes

are more than three times more likely to attempt suicide

teñen un risco 3 veces maior de intentar suicidarse

than their heterosexual peers,

que os mozos heterosexuais,

and transgender teens are almost six times more likely.

e os adolescentes transxénero teñen un risco case 6 veces maior.

According to one study, roughly one third of homeless youth

De acordo cun estudo, un terzo dos xoves sen fogar

identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning,

identifícase como lesbiana, gai, bisexual ou indeciso

and about four percent of homeless youth identify as transgender,

e case o 4% dos xoves sen fogar identifícase como transxénero,

comparado co 1% da da poboación xeral de xoves sen fogar.

compared with one percent of the general youth population surveyed.

According to the Human Rights Campaign,

De acordo con Human Rights Campaign,

houbo 128 asasinatos de persoas trans

there have been 128 killings of trans people

in 87 cities across 32 states

en 87 cidades de 32 estados

since 2013.

dende 2013.

And those are the only the reported cases.

E eses son só os datos que constan.

O 80% deses asasinatos foron de mulleres trans de cor.

And 80 percent of those killings were of trans women of color.

A situación queer é desoladora,

The queer situation is bleak,

por dicir pouco.

to say the least.

The YouTube comments on my videos

Os comentarios dos meus vídeos en YouTube

are not much better.

non son moito mellores.

I'm used to the harassment.

Estou afeita ao acoso.

I get messages daily telling me I'm a pedophile

Recibo mensaxes cada día chamándome pedófila

and that I should kill myself in a number of increasingly creative ways.

e dicindo que debería matarme de xeitos cada vez máis creativos.

I once had to put the word "truck" on my block list

Tiven que incluir "camión" na lista de palabras silenciadas

because someone wanted me to get run over by a truck.

porque alguén quería que me esfachase un camión.

"Shower" and "oven" are in there, too,

"Ducha" e "forno" tamén están nesa lista,

for the less creative and more disturbing Holocaust reference.

polas referencias ao Holocausto, menos creativas pero máis preocupantes.

When neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville,

Cando os neonazis se manifestaron en Charlottesville,

I was unsurprised to learn

non me sorprendeu descubrir

that the creator of a violent Reddit meme about one of my episodes

que o creador dun meme violento sobre un dos meus episodios

was in the tiki torch crowd.

estaba na multitude que levaba os fachos.

Este bombardeo de negatividade é contra o que nos enfrontamos:

This barrage of negativity is what we're up against:

the crushing statistics, the violence, the mental health risks,

as estatísticas desoladoras, a violencia, os riscos para a saúde mental.

the well-meaning but flawed response my parents gave me when I came out,

a resposta con boas intencións pero equivocada dos meus pais

cando saín do armario: que non querían que tivese unha vida dura.

that they didn't want me to have a harder life.

That's what we're up against.

Iso é contra o que estamos.

But in the face of all that,

Pero a pesar de todo isto,

quédome coa felicidade.

I choose joy.

Quédome cos arcos da vella, cos unicornios e coa purpurina,

I choose rainbows and unicorns and glitter,

and I sing that it's OK to be gay with my childhood stuffed teddy bear.

e canto que está ben ser gai co oso de peluche da miña infancia

Fago contido queer para nenos

I make queer media for kids

because I wish I had this when I was their age.

porque a min gustaríame ter isto cando tiña a súa idade.

I make it so others don't have to struggle through what I did,

Fágoo para que outras persoas non pasen polo mesmo ca min,

que non entendía a miña identidade

not understanding my identity

because I didn't have any exposure to who I could be.

porque non tiña ningún referente do que eu podería ser.

Ensino e comparto esta mensaxe con alegría e positividade

I teach and spread this message through joy and positivity

instead of framing it around the hardships of queer life.

en lugar de centrarme nas dificultades da vida das persoas queer

I want kids to grow up and into themselves

Quero que os nenos se fagan maiores

e sintan orgullo polo que son e por quen poden ser,

with pride for who they are and who they can be,

no matter who they love or what they wear or what pronouns they use.

sen importar a quen queren ou a roupa que leven ou os pronomes que usen.

And I want them to love others for their differences,

E quero que se queiran e queiran os demais polas súas diferenzas

not in spite of them.

non a pesar delas.

I think fostering this pride and empathy

Creo que fomentarmos este orgullo e empatía

will make the world a kinder and more equal place

fará do mundo un lugar máis amable e igualitario

and combat the bigotry and hate that festers in our world.

e loitará contra a intolerancia e o odio que infecta o noso mundo.

So, talk to a kid about gender.

Así que, falenlles aos nenos sobre xénero.

Falenlles aos nenos sobre sexualidade.

Talk to a kid about sexuality.

Teach them about consent.

Ensinenlles aos nenos sobre consentimento.

Tell them it is OK for boys to wear dresses

Díganlles que está ben que os nenos leven vestidos

and for girls to speak up.

e que as nenas falen con decisión.

Let's spread radical queer joy.

Estendamos a alegría radical queer.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)