Hundreds turn out for reading of transgender children’s book

Nearly 600 people filled the Mount Horeb, Wisconsin library Wednesday night for a reading of I Am Jazz, a children’s book about a transgender girl, co-authored by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, a transgender girl who stars in a TLC reality show by the same name.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, “In a turnout that stunned organizers, nearly 600 people filled the library here Wednesday night to hear a public reading of a children’s book about a transgender girl, with many in the crowd expressing strong support for a local family with a transgender child.”

According to the Associated Press, the event was a “showing of support for a local family with a transgender child. The library event Wednesday night was arranged after the child's elementary school canceled a reading of the book last week following the threat of a lawsuit by a conservative organization based in Florida. School staff wanted to read the book to the classmates of a 6-year-old student in order to promote understanding of the child's transition from a boy to a girl.”

“Jazz Jennings has responded to a Wisconsin school’s cancellation of a reading of her book I Am Jazz via a column in Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel, thanking the school’s principal for her intentions and expressing sadness that a small group of parents caused the cancellation,” according to The Advocate.

“The children’s book coauthored by the transgender teen was to be read to students November 23 at Mount Horeb Primary Center, located in the town of Mount Horeb, near Madison. The school had sent a letter to parents November 19, letting them know about the reading and saying it was a way to foster respect and support for young transgender people.

“Some parents, however, enlisted the support of Liberty Counsel, a right-wing legal group, which threatened a lawsuit if the reading was not canceled. It claimed that the reading would result in ‘confusing many children,’ ‘undermining modesty,’ and ‘promoting non-factual, radical, and controversial assumptions about ‘gender.’’ Liberty Counsel, which is also the group defending antigay Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.”

According to Dr. Beth Sherouse, writing for WelcomingSchools.org’s blog, “The book introduces Jazz as a girl who loves pink, silver, and green, as well as dancing, singing, her best friends and mermaids. Jazz talks about how when she was little, her mom would say, 'You’re such a good boy,' and she would say, ‘No, Mama, Good GIRL!’

“Jazz recalls she always liked to play with 'girl stuff' and wear her sister’s dresses, even though her parents still thought of and referred to her as a boy. After consulting with doctors, her parents – and eventually her teachers and friends at school – understood Jazz was transgender and saw her for the girl she knew she was.

“I Am Jazz is an important addition to the small body of children’s literature about transgender children. While life hasn’t always been easy for Jazz, the book depicts a supportive family and friends who were there for Jazz when school officials wanted her to play on the boys’ team in gym class or use the boys’ bathroom.”

Welcoming Schools is a project of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel featured a column by Jazz Jennings on Monday, December 1. She wrote, “I was very happy to learn that Principal Rachael Johnson chose to read my book, I am Jazz, to her students at Mt. Horeb Primary Center.

“Jessica Herthel and I wrote it for children — it's based on my own experience as a transgender girl, a story I first started telling when I was 6 years old. Back then (I'm 15 now), I was lucky that my parents and my extended family supported me for who I knew I was. But at that time I didn't know of other transgender children. I didn't have any role models, or books to read that would let me know I was OK, and there were other kids just like me.

“People at my school had never known any transgender children and they weren't sure how to make me feel safe and accepted. We decided to write "I Am Jazz" so that children everywhere — like the students at Mt. Horeb — could learn about and understand what it means to be transgender, and to be compassionate and kind to their transgender classmates. I also hoped that the book would help transgender children feel more included and not alone. I know it would have made a big difference when I was little to know that there were other kids like me.”

Ms. Herthel flew in from California for the reading. According to the Journal Sentinel, “Jazz Jennings is a transgender teen and LGBTQ activist who stars in the TLC reality series, I Am Jazz, was named by Time as one of the ‘25 Most Influential Teens’ of 2014 and 2015, and serves as Youth Ambassador for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.”

The Gayly – December 3, 2015 @ 12:20 p.m.