You’re So Brave

I hate those words, being brave has nothing to do with transitioning; it is all about survival. What is brave is if you are willing to stand up and fight for what is right.

What Coy Mathis' Story Means For The Transgender Community Today
REFINERY29
By Andrea Gnzaalez-Ramirez
June 27, 2016

Coy Mathis made headlines throughout the country three years ago.

The family of the then-6-year-old was engulfed in a legal battle over her right to use the girls’ bathroom at her Colorado elementary school.

The reason there was a fight for what may seem like such a basic right? Coy is transgender.

The Colorado Civil Rights Division ruled in favor of Coy, making it the first ruling of its kind regarding the rights of transgender students. The decision became a milestone in the fight for transgender rights — and film director Eric Juhola was there to witness Mathis family's journey.

Growing Up Coy, his film chronicling the Mathis family life before, during, and after the lawsuit, premiered during the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York City last week. The documentary's release comes amid a wave of new bills targeting rights for the transgender community, including HB2 in North Carolina.

The director goes on to say…

This story is focused on Coy, this little girl at the center of the legal fight. How was the experience of interacting with her and getting to know her?
"It was incredible. I had no idea what to expect when I first went to Colorado and met the Mathis family. But the thing about Coy is that she’s just like any other average little girl. We did not talk — no one in our documentary crew talked to Coy what it felt like to be transgender, we tried to protect her from that sort of discussion and just let her be herself and treat her like the little girl that she is. And the truth is, I think Kathryn says it best in the film when she says, 'You know, Coy doesn’t want to talk about how she’s different. She just wants to be, she just wants to do what any other little kid does.' I think that that’s something that you would find with any 6-year-old, they just want to play.

I had a hard enough time handling my transition as an “Out” trans woman, it had to be some much harder for a child to deal with all the negative publicity. The comments can really tear down your defenses so of the things that you read about yourself can cause you question your existence and children like Coy and Jazz have to deal with all that hate at a young age.

The film synopsis on IMDB says,

A Colorado family is thrust into the international media spotlight when they fight for the rights of their 6-year-old transgender daughter in a landmark civil rights case.