'American Teenager' lets transgender youths speak for themselves

"American Teenager" author Nico Lang spent nearly a year traveling the U.S. to document the lives of eight transgender teens as the community has been targeted by hundreds of state bills.

As state lawmakers have introduced hundreds of bills targeting transgender people, particularly youths, over the last few years, Americans have rarely been able to hear from those most directly affected — trans youths themselves.

“American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era” plans to change that by sharing the stories of eight trans teenagers, who were 15 to 19 years old when they were interviewed for the book. Like most teens, they are navigating school, finding community through their faith, falling in love for the first time and working through growing pains with their families.

Some of them, however, have also had to become activists in recent years, as half of states have passed laws that prohibit them from playing school sports on the teams that align with their gender identities, and 26 states have enacted measures that bar them from receiving certain types of transition-related health care, such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgeries. 

Author Nico Lang, a journalist who has covered the trans community for about a decade, including for NBC News, said the book is simply meant to show readers that trans people are people. Lang, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, said that they were on the phone with Kimberly Shappley, the mother of a trans girl living in Texas, in 2021 and that she “was freaking out” because state lawmakers had introduced a bill that would classify transition-related care for minors as child abuse.

"American Teenager" is journalist and author Nico Lang's first book.Christian RogersLang said that bill made them feel like “we were lacking any sort of good faith at all in the discussion, because if we are unwilling to see someone like Kimberly and her daughter Kai as humans deserving the same rights as we do, there’s nowhere we can go in the conversation.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/american-teenager-transgender-youths-nico-lang-rcna174301

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