Nickelodeon star Michael D. Cohen issued a message to children earlier this week urging them to celebrate friends who exhibit transgender behavior.
“It’s really important to celebrate International Trans Day of Visibility,” Cohen told young viewers Wednesday. “Because the more the world understands, is aware of, and supports people of trans experience, the more empowered this community will be to have our rights and to have what we deserve and to be equal like everybody else.”
“I’m proud to be a part of the trans community because we are united by a common pursuit of our own personal truth,” continued Cohen, who played a character named Schwoz in the show “Henry Danger,” which aired from 2014 to 2020. “There are most likely people of trans experience in your school, your community, friends, family. You can support them by standing up against bullying, cheering them on as they express themselves.”
“Be true to yourself as you are,” Cohen concluded. “You’re really important. Don’t compromise. And believe in your dreams. Know that you have people like myself and other people in this community that are behind you, that support you, and believe in you.”
WATCH:
Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility 🏳️⚧️ Join us in celebrating people of trans experience by making the world a safer & more equal place for everyone to be fully themselves. Check out @glaad and @GLSEN to find out how to become better trans allies! pic.twitter.com/6h7WjudpTi
— Nickelodeon (@Nickelodeon) March 31, 2021
Cohen claimed in a 2019 interview with Time magazine to have assumed a male identity two decades ago after having been born female. Last December, Cohen rolled out a “trans youth acting challenge” for young people who identify as trans or nonbinary and want to pursue an acting career.
During a recent series of interviews with a group of mothers whose sons identify as transgender, The Christian Post (CP) noted that assuming a trans identity sometimes offers otherwise ostracized, socially awkward teenagers the popularity that once eluded them. As The Daily Wire reported:
One mother, whom the outlet intentionally misnamed as Danae Johnson, told CP that her son Jeremy came out to her as transgender when he was 14. She believes his struggles with identity are rooted in being bullied for having been smaller than other boys. She noted that Jeremy, now 17, has newfound popularity with his peers after coming out as trans.
[…]
Another mother from the online group, whom CP called Paulina Hinson, is not religious but has found solidarity in the group. Her son Kevin identifies as a transgender lesbian who expressed his intention to transition at 15.
Kevin, his mother noted, is very intelligent and struggled to relate socially to other boys growing up.
High intelligence is seemingly a common trait among the trans-identifying sons of the mothers they interviewed, CP observed, with many also falling along the autistic spectrum or suffering from other issues such as ADHD. “Every one of their kids has mental health issues,” one of the mothers said of the others in the group. “Most of them are autistic. High-functioning Asperger’s, that kind of stuff … This whole understanding of the world, it’s a subculture I had no idea existed.”