Exchange Student
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Anonymous
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My 16 year old transgender child has expressed a desire to be a high school exchange student overseas. Has anyone ever done that? And if so, through which program? They all seem hesitant or unwilling to help.
Has anyone's transgender child traveled out of the USA with a school group? If so, how did it go? |
Anonymous
| I don’t know anyone who was an openly trans high school exchange student but I imagine it might depend on the country whether it would even be safe so something like Rotary is probably a no go. I have a lesbian friend who did rotary India and it was clear during her orientation that she was going to have to stay firmly in the closet the whole year. However a trans friend (mutual friend of the aforementioned lesbian actually) did do JET after college (she transitioned during college) and was able to do that without detransitioning or anything. She sometimes found small town life a bit socially constricting but she stayed in Japan for many years with the program so I guess over all it worked out. |
Anonymous
| Thailand |
Anonymous
| I think Sweden, Denmark, Finland might be more open AND safe than say, Ireland. |
Anonymous
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Thanks. I appreciate your help, but I was looking for an organization who could make this happen in high school.
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Anonymous
| Try the congressbundestag program for Germany. No problem for gay high school students 20 years ago and I bet trans students would be welcome now. |
Anonymous
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I did the ESU (English Speaking Union) Exchange Program, which is a gap year exchange program between the US/Canada and the UK/Australia. I assume they'd be fine with trans kids? But your (private) high school needs to be a participating school.
Are you looking for a full year exchange, or just a few weeks/field trip type thing? |
Anonymous
| Try AFS, but it’s really going to depend on where they want to go. Some countries won’t be welcoming or safe. |
Anonymous
| Does your HS kid needs a host family with school age students? |
Anonymous
| This is insane to permit this. You are asking for bad stuff to happen. |
Anonymous
Why would you say this? |
Anonymous
You know Ireland had a gay prime minister recently? They are actually fairly open and welcoming, especially the high school and college generations |
Anonymous
If said child is FULLY and clearly transitioned, yes. No one should even know. If not, not even there. They'd see him/ her as some American weirdo. |
Anonymous
| The children need to be given more free time, you can sometimes help with exchange if they need that. Lots of people want to move abroad by using their studies. For instance, this article I have used https://studyabroadnations.com/how-to-write-an-autobiography-for-a-student-exchange-program/ which that helps to get information about how to write an autobiography for a student exchange program, so if you have some questions about this process, you might find all the answers on this page. I think it can be suitable. |
Anonymous
| I have a trans 16 year old too who studies languages and loves to travel. He did a two week exchange living with a host family but I was also in country and he went stealth. We were nervous and had a plan should anything go south. But, it ended up being a great experience. It's heartbreaking that a lack of acceptance means our kids may not have the same opportunities as others and so, so hard to explain to them. But of course, half of the US is starting to become off limits, too. I'll posit that Buenos Aires and Barcelona could be options for you as they are generally very welcoming and tolerant to the trans community. Maybe even look into this high school in Buenos Aires if your kids was into going to a school designed for gender non-confirming kids. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2022/07/19/what-this-pioneering-high-school-for-transgender-students-in-argentina-can-teach-us-all/?sh=3b7073475615 |