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Shouldn't try to fix what isn't broken.

don't force being trans on people, its s**t regardless no matter how well things go.

Just to make things clear, though, I think the title of this thread is misleading. Storm was never genderless; he had a gender, but his parents refused to tell anyone else what it was.

Parents say Storm DOES have a gender (ETA: I think it should be said--there seems to be some confusion between sex and gender in all these articles, and even in my own post. The latter was unintentional, and perhaps the former is, too. Storm's sex was not revealed publicly until he was five years old, ALONG with his gender. But as expected, many people think that gender is dictated by sex, thus the confusion in terminology.)

This choice caused a lot of propaganda, a set of misunderstandings about what the parents were actually doing. People felt like THEM, the rest of society, not knowing Storm's gender meant that Storm himself was in fact genderless, ergo, the parents were not allowing Storm to choose his gender. (But it really isn't about Storm's choice to many people, is it?)

Let that sink in. It's kind of screwed up when you read it carefully. It suggests that Western society feels entitled to dictate the gender of complete strangers--including children. And if this society is denied access to someone's gender, it's a great offense that apparently stretches across hundreds of thousands of people: how dare parents teach their child that gender is an intimate and private piece of personal information, to teach them they don't have to make their gender OUR business? Child abuse!

Western society got upset that some parents don't put a label on their child for everyone to see, so the society does it for Storm. Because some of Western society didn't like that Storm's family had information which the parents said, "no, you guys don't need to know. Deal with it." I don't think people's reaction was atypical, but it was disappointing. It shows that we still have a long way to go.

Another question: is it really the rest of your society's business to know your gender--and is there an obligation you inherently have to show everyone what kind of genitals you possess? Because that is what many people presumed to be obligatory about Storm, a child. Strangers felt this way.

At the same time, Storm will slowly understand and begin to face this radical life principle his parents gave him. What will he do with it? Will he defend his parents' values in time, or resent them because of the negative attention it produced? I hope Storm comes to have the understanding that shows this important truth: his parents were trying to protect a part of his being that right now, most of his society is used to knowing as soon as an infant pops out of a v****a. His parents picked a time in modern society where many people weren't willing to comprehend the positive concepts within his parents' intentions. Perhaps his parents could've come about it differently, or maybe it happened exactly the way it needed to. It's too late now to know. I hope Storm is a curious and open-minded child who will ask a lot questions so he can fully understand one day--so he can see the polarity in his family compared to what most of everyone else instills in their children.

I think Storm's parents' intentions were good, and I find it refreshing to see parents who consider the idea that, hey... this is really no one else's business but our family's and Storm's at the end of the day. It's challenging the norm. After all, it really doesn't matter what strangers think about his sex and gender. He's the one who has to live with himself for the rest of his life; all that really matters is his acceptance and respect of who he is, not what others presume he is.

I agree fully with what you said. honestly i would have said it all myself if i had the capability of finding the right words.our society really needs to stop and think about what it teaches its children. a lot of kids today have no morals or values and no sense of respect be it for themselves or others, and that really sickens me. if i had acted the way children do today when i was growing up i would have gotten a spanking and would have been sent to the corner.

When i have kids of my own im going to raise them the same way i was raised. Which means i will teach my kids right and wrong and teach them be understanding of all races, people, lifestyle chioces and everything else, as well as how to respect themselves and others, and how to earn someones respect.

No, you're totally right. Every baby IS born genderless. I'm guessing that when Storm was said to not actually be genderless, it was after he had some years of gender discovery under his belt (he was five when his gender was revealed). But his parents still kept it between Storm, his siblings, and the parents themselves. But it was this choice that made Western society feel entitled to accuse Storm of being officially genderless lest his parents spill the beans. It's incredibly pretentious AND presumptuous.

I agree; not stamping a gender on a child before they can even begin to comprehend the real differences between just the binary genders is an ideal situation. Of course, you're going to have a lot of people accusing you of trying to turn the nation completely gender neutral/genderless. No joke--I watched this guy rant once about people like you and me, accusing us of not wanting men to be MEN and women to be WOMEN. Which is silly. Don't know about you, but I'm perfectly fine with cis persons identifying as cis all they want--and expressing those genders however they want.

What I fight for is equality; so that if a female wants to be genderless or trans* or nonbinary or cis, they can. Exactly the same for a male. If I have a child in the future, I will let them explore gender for as long as they need to so they discover their true self. I'm the parent, yes, but I'm no dictator of anyone's identity, especially not a child's.

Lol, nah it's cool. I ramble, too, and I personally think rambling is good. Stream of consciousness!

I hate the shaming that so many go through because of other people's ignorance. I used to be fringe ultraconservative Christian, no exaggeration. Gender roles were crucial in my life, but they also made my life a living hell because i was never a good enough woman. Too rebellious, too zealous, not willing to submit or completely unable to. Nothing was ever worth enough.

Left that life, first for obvious emotional reasons and later more rational ones. Imagine the identity crisis I went through, lol. It was bad enough that for over a decade I was fighting against my sexuality--I realized that without the gender rules of my former belief system, I had NO IDEA who or what I was. I was just a blank slate. Kind of scary at first, but then amazing because I finally had the freedom to explore my total lack of gender identity.

I'm still putting the pieces together, but one thing I did realize is this: the only thing that made me think I was a woman was my religion. Without my religion, I found I had no actual, intimate connection with being anything. Perhaps a bit feminine here, a little masculine there, and that's really it. It felt great to discover that. It felt right to finally know a part of who I was on my own, on my terms.

Right now, I identify as genderqueer, and I'm happy with that. Despite coming out on gaia, no one but one of my parents knows. I don't know how long it will be before I come out to others, but I'm hoping that those others will be understanding. I've already experienced erasure of my orientation. I know that I have many physical features that are very feminine (particularly my facial features), and I know people will use those to dictate to me what they believe my true gender is despite my own thoughts and/or efforts. It will be hard.

Every new presence of acceptance means the world, so thank you. You also have my acceptance. I've become a big trans* supporter during my own journey.