By Johanna Hecht
KU Statehouse Wire Service
A year after she posted a video explaining her transition from male to female, 8-year-old Avery Jackson and her mother, Debi Jackson, are working to turn the video into a children’s book.
Jackson, from Kansas City, is working with a transgender comic illustrator to put together the book in an effort to share Avery’s story with the hope that discussions about transgender issues will become easier.
“Avery is very much a goofy kid, and she loves this comic-book, silly style of art. We’re going to use that so it’s not such an intimidating subject to kids, but it’s something kind of fun that they can read and connect with,” Jackson said.
Jackson said she wanted to make sure all the people who touch the book, and all the people who are going to make money from it, are a part of the transgender community. And she hopes the book will help transgender adults as well as children.
“So many trans adults have a hard time finding steady employment, or they’re unemployed after transitioning, and we really wanted to find a way that we could give back,” she said.
Avery and her mother are also working with Planting Peace, a global nonprofit organization, to paint a house with the transgender flag on it. It would be a neighbor to the Equality House.
The Equality House, located in Topeka across from the Westboro Baptist Church, serves as an office space for Planting Peace. The Equality House is painted with the rainbow flag year-round, except for one week when they paint it with the transgender flag colors. The rainbow flag symbolizes pride for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, while the flag symbolizing transgender pride has five stripes—two blue, two pink, and one white.
“Some people said that ‘(transgender people) are covered by the rainbow flag, why do they think they need their own or need special treatment?’ It’s not special treatment; it’s visibility and equal treatment. They’re not as understood and as supported as the rest of the gay community,” Jackson said.
Fundraising efforts for Planting Peace to purchase the house started in March. The goal is to reach $70,000 but only $10,688 has been raised so far. Jackson hopes they can continue raising awareness for the project over the summer.
Jackson explained that her daughter’s story has been able to help not only transgender children who might be feeling alone, but adults as well.
“I have had a couple of adults who are in their 60s and 70s come to me and say ‘I’m finally going to transition and it’s because of Avery’s inspiration, and she can do that and she can be so brave where you live, then I have no excuses,’” she said.
When Avery was first transitioning, her mother admits the family looked into moving to safer places for her and her husband, Tom, to raise their daughter and son.
“I have actually done real estate searches looking for tiny islands that have less then 50 people on them. I have fantasized about moving away completely and starting over where no one knows us,” Jackson said.
However, she soon realized there is no place to completely escape because of the family’s visibility. She explained that Avery isn’t fully aware of the extent of the media coverage or how much her story has been shared, especially over the last year.
At first, Avery’s parents did not want her to be out in public, but as time went on they realized they couldn’t hold her back for very long.
“I don’t want her to go through life being afraid of other people,” Avery’s mom said.
One of Avery’s interests is playing online games, such as Minecraft.
“Both kids and adults tend to get into online gaming because you can create your avatar and be whoever you want to be, and it’s a safe place to start expressing an identity. So that might be why she gravitated to the online world,” Jackson said.
When Avery isn’t working on her homeschooling or playing Minecraft, she is participating with her Girl Scout troop, whose members know she is transgender.
In September 2014, Avery opened up about her transition during a Girl Scout meeting when the girls were asked to tell an interesting fact about themselves. Another girl told the group she was transgender and Avery said, “I am, too!”
After starting public advocacy work a year ago and serving as president of the Kansas City chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Jackson is now working on putting together training for schools and businesses to help them become trans-inclusive. She wants to go into full-time consulting work to educate teachers, staff, kids and parents. Her goal is to turn her work into a national business.
As for Avery, there are days where she is very excited about being out in public and sharing her story. But at times she does feel the pressure to be visible for those who can’t, and would rather not speak at all because, in the end, she just wants to be treated like a normal person.
You can donate to the house-building effort here
Transgender individuals are people whose gender identity is different from the sex they were assigned at birth.
Edited by Leah Sitz