A Canadian group is now employing the use of transgender puppets to teach little kids about gender identity. And yes, it’s just as creepy as it sounds.
According to the Montreal Gazette, the video series, developed by the Jasmin Roy Sophie Desmarais Foundation and debuted at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on Sept. 5, is designed to teach pre-pubescent children how to come to grips with their own gender identity. The videos, posted on YouTube, show a transgender puppet (yes, that’s a thing now) named Julia complaining to a woman in a terrible wig about how she wants to go by “Julian,” because she doesn’t feel like a girl.
“And I don’t want to wear dresses or girls’ clothes any more!” she grumbles.
By the time the second video rolls around, Julia's chopped off all her hair, sports male clothing and is introducing herself to her friends as "Julian."
"You see, Julian has always felt like he was a little boy in his heart," the adult with the terrible wig explains to Julia/Julian's confused friends.
"If the heart says so, then it's true!" she adds. (Of course, the heart might also have told Julia that she's a bald eagle, but I wouldn't recommend she launch herself off the top of a building. Or at least I wouldn't if she weren't, you know, a stuffed doll.)
The foundation said they developed the three-part video series in part as a tool for teachers to use to help trans or trans-questioning kids “come out” as whatever gender they feel.
As for whether or not the kid’s parents are O.K. with their child being indoctrinated with gender-bending dolls, the foundation says that’s not really the point.
“They’re children, they’re suffering, we need to help them,” said Roy. “Even if you don’t understand, you need to help them. If your child is autistic, you’ll help your child and if you’re child is exploring, you need to help your child.”
“If you’re a parent, you’re supposed to be there for your children, no matter what your children are exploring,” said Julien Leroux-Richard, president of the advocacy group Aide aux Trans du Québec.
“Your role is to help, to understand and to love, and if you don’t understand, at least to respect your children in the way they’ve chosen to be. This is why this tool was created. It’s for parents and teachers, to show them how to help. A lot of times what we hear is that children feel frustrated because they feel they’re not being heard when they talk. We have to listen when people talk.”