Transgender Teen Jazz Jennings is the Role Model Your Kids Need

Ambitious. Driven. Determined. Poised, Inspiring. These are not often qualities attributed to a 14-year-old. Jazz Jennings
 has emerged as a prolific activist despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles at her feet. Now the transgender teen seems to be on the tips of collective tongues and she’s making a major mark in the world—her way. We were first introduced to Jazz Jennings in a 2007 interview with Barbara Walters. Although she was only six years of age at the time, she was reported as “one of the youngest known cases of an early transition from male to female.” For the first time ever, many families welcomed an openly trans-identified youth into their homes and learned about Jazz’s courageous fight to appear in public as a female. Not only was Jazz’s story front and center, but the television special explored how her parents processed her burgeoning gender identity.
Jazz’s parents confirmed that she identified with a different gender from a very young age. Moreover, her parents reported that Jazz insisted that she had the wrong genitalia and began wearing dresses at home, although she maintained a “gender neutral appearance” in public. Things changed at her fifth birthday party, when Jazz informed her closest friends that she was, indeed, a girl while donning a one-piece bathing suit, as reported by ABC.

14-year-old transgender activist Jazz Jennings.

Buzz about her inaugural television special spread at the speed of light, ricocheting across continents and transcending gender identity, ethnicity, sexual proclivity, and social standing. Jazz went on to appear on a number of news outlets, including a follow-up with Barbara Walters five years after the original special aired. With increased exposure, Jazz realized that she now had a larger and more captive platform to speak out on issues affecting not only transgender individuals, but the families of trans-identified youth. And she used it. Boasting tens of thousands of followers on all of her social pages, Jazz currently uses networks like YouTube and Instagram to mobilize supporters and to educate the world about trans-identity from her perspective. As a result, she has racked up a string of awards for her incredible work, including top honors from GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, and The Advocate.

This summer, Jazz will leap over yet another hurdle. She will be starring in her very own TLC docuseries called All That Jazz, which will follow her and her family’s journey to traverse her tumultuous teenage years. “Jazz’s story is universal, yet unique, and we’re proud to partner with her family to share it with TLC’s audience. Jazz may be known as an author and activist, but she’s first and foremost a teenage girl with a big, brave heart, living a remarkable life,” remarked TLC General Manager Nancy Daniels. Although Jazz has become a modern poster child for transgender youth, she still faces bullying and maltreatment from individuals who don’t seem to understand who she is. This is evident through the number of profane comments and attacks that deface her social media accounts. About bullying and what others think of her, Jazz is quick to make one thing clear: “I don’t care what people think. The only opinion that really affects me is my own opinion of myself because I determine the way I am, not anyone else,” she said in one of her YouTube videos. “If someone says something hurtful to you or makes you feel down on yourself then you just gotta stay positive and keep moving forward because they might not know much about you or they may not understand the situation.”

Jazz’s inspiring journey—which has just started, no less—is making the world sit up and take notice. Not only do young people stand to learn a lot from her story, but their parents do as well. What’s your take on Jazz’s story? Do you believe that she is a positive role model for children? Sound off in the comments.