‘Pretending to live like a boy felt weird’: Transgender student, 16, becomes the only girl at a selective all-boys private school after changing her identity
- A 16-year-old student has become the only girl at a selective all-boys school
- Hannah – who identifies as a girl – said she wants to be allowed to wear a skirt
- Every morning, she gets dressed in a shirt, tie, blazer, trousers and black shoes
- The Sydney teen said she struggled with her identity for most of her childhood
- But last year, she came out as transgender to her doting mother and her school
A 16-year-old transgender student has become the only girl at a selective all-boys private school after changing her identity.
Every morning, Hannah gets dressed in a shirt, tie, blazer, a pair of trousers and black shoes, before she does puts on mascara and heads out the door for school.
Appearing in an episode of SBS’s Insight Transgender Teens, the Sydney teen – who identifies as a girl – said she wants nothing more than to be allowed to wear a skirt.
Hannah (pictured) has become the only girl at a selective all-boys private school after coming out as transgender
‘I’ve tried to make them change their policy for about a year. [The school says] if they give in to me, other people might ask for other changes,’ Hannah said.
Her mother Gagan said she initially agreed with the school.
‘I actually said to her “look, I wear trousers and… I actually used to wear a tie when I went to school”,’ her mother recalled.
‘[But a doctor explained] it’s a really big deal for her because for that long she has lived as a boy… This is a very big step for her to feel at ease.’
Despite the strict uniform policy, Hannah said her school has helped her with transitioning, allowing her to change her name and organising a different toilet.
Every morning, Hannah gets dressed in a shirt, tie, blazer, a pair of trousers and black shoes, before she does puts on mascara and heads out the door for school
Hannah started life as a boy but now identifies as a girl after she began questioning her gender from Year 5
Growing up, Hannah said she struggled with her identity for most of her childhood.
‘I was questioning my gender from about Year 5. Pretending to live like a boy felt quite weird because it was different to how I felt about myself,’ she said.
‘You sort of have to put on a facade and you have to make people think that you’re something that you’re not.’
Hannah has gender dysphoria – a condition where people don’t identify with their biological sex.
Growing up, Hannah said she struggled with her identity for most of her childhood
Her mother Gagan (left) has been extremely supportive of her daughter, saying her gender identity has not changed anything about the person she gave birth to
Last year, Hannah came out as transgender to her mother, before she told the rest of the school.
Her doting mother has been extremely supportive of her daughter, saying her gender identity has not changed anything about the person she gave birth to.
‘I think it doesn’t matter – gender girl or boy – I have the same child,’ Gagan said.
‘She talks to me the same, she has the same dark and dry sense of humour – very sarcastic and cynical… And I just love her.’
Hannah – who plans to transition from boy to girl – will begin her hormone replacement therapy soon.
Children with gender dysphoria are required to seek a court approval to undergo the gender transitioning surgery and treatment.
Watch Insight’s show Transgender Teens on SBS On Demand.