Thank you! You said it very well. Your questions and concerns are the same as mine. One of my friends from high school started a similar discussion on FB, because she was concerned when she read a news article about parents allowing their pre-teen child to undergo gender re-assignment surgery. She likened it to child abuse, as it is a very permanent change, and children may change their minds as to what they want. I've read stories myself of people who had the surgery young and later regretted it. And, science has shown our logic and emotional centers of the brain do not fully mature until we're around twenty-five years old (which is why I think no one should get married before that age).

Everyone who responded to my friend agreed with her. We all also agreed that parents should fully support children who express transgender identities and allow them to explore those identities with the way they dress and present themselves, without allowing them to make a permanent, surgical change, or use puberty blockers, until they are 18 (though twenty-five would be better). That seemed like a reasonable answer to everyone on that thread, and there were a lot of responses to it.

And, we are all pretty open-minded people, as a group. In high school, we were the "drama kids," the ones who took the acting classes and put on the shows, and quite a few of our peers were gay, and that was totally cool. I dated a few of them before they came out, enough that it earned me the reputation of turning guys gay, which I still get teased about sometimes when we all get together....even by the gay guys themselves. :)

But, we ALL thought it was a bad idea to let a child make the decision to use puberty blockers or undergo gender re-assignment surgery. Wait until they are grown up for that, where they can make a more informed decision on their own. Until then, support them in any other way you can in expressing their preferred gender identity, whether it changes or stays the same. That's what a loving parent would do. It's like not letting a kid get a tattoo or piercing until they are grown up and able to really understand the implications of that decision. They can wear temporary tattoos and clip-on piercings until then.

And, I have the same question as you as to why the current generation of kids seems to have so many that are identifying as transgender, compared to other generations. I often wonder if it is a fad, which is another reason to make a child wait until they are grown up before making permanent changes.

So, long answer short, @kiwideb, no, you are NOT a bigot.