I think age is the biggest factor here. Teen groups are relatively normal, since teens are actively exploring their identity and have the agency to join a group themselves. A gay teen interested in drag will probably become a gay adult interested in drag, no problem. Prepubescent kids don't have that kind of desire or independence, so these kids who are "trans" or "drag queens" (they are overwhelmingly in those two groups) are just sons being groomed by their moms to be dress-up dolls.
The saddest thing is that in all likelihood, the parents will get away with this, and 100% of the burden will be on the kid. Toddlers and Tiaras prompted all of one legal case questioning whether a mother forcing her daughter to dress like a prostitute is really fit to take care of her, and even that turned out to be inconclusive.
Dude, 100-fucking-percent right on. I wish I could find the link to the family in California that broadcasts to the world their pride in two of their three sons declaring themselves trans. (Ages are in the 6-8 year range.) Wow. Lightning must have struck twice at that house, or the parent's genes are very confused. Because what are the odds of two pre-pubescent boys having the same epiphany from the same parents? Or, maybe we put Sir Jeremy Occam (sp?) on the case, and find a simpler explanation.
And maybe, just maybe, the answer has something to with courts of law? (Wild, isn't it?) Like how we don't allow, to every humanly extent possible, children much under 12-15 to testify in court, because you fucking well can't trust what they say because, (wait for it, wait for it) THEY'RE TOO FUCKING SUGGESTIONABLE!! They'll say whatever the fuck they think adults want to hear. It's not lying to them, to children, it's making grown-ups happy.
Beyond that, with teens who identify with trans it should probably also be taken with a healthy skepticism. At 15 I walked around with a green Mao cap on my head and my Karl Marx. I umderstand that it's a better process if the hormone therapy is started pre-puberty, but fuck. I'm just not that comfortable with a teenager making such a consequence-laden choice that early.
As for Desmond, if he's really just having fun with this, then it's probably just fine. He's at the age were kids act like clowns craving attention. Give the little imp some credit. He knocked that one the fuck out of the ballpark. I can easily see him treat this as a phase, no problemo. What I'm really more worried about is that pic on page one with those fucking malnourished arms. Christ, he looks straight out of Dachau. Stuff a fucking chalupa down his piehole once in a while.
