Mello, Argentina-Luana grabs her shiny blue skirt with one hand, spins, uses the other hand as a guide, and a piece of tulle floats around her body. The 8-year-
Old with long brown curls, golden butterfly earrings and Princess amulets hanging around the neck.
"I like it when my hair does this," she said, shaking her head as her hair flutters.
"I like to wear clothes.
"Luanna had to fight in order to be a girl.
She was born in the world of a boy, struggling in the world, and she insisted that she must be such a person.
In 2013, she became the youngest person to use Argentine law, which allowed people to determine their gender for legal purposes.
The case has made the child an international symbol of the progress of transgender groups.
At the same time, it sparked a debate in this conservative Catholic country --
The hometown of Pope Francis
About how to best raise children who identify with the opposite sex.
But that discussion.
Become more and more common all over the world
Feeling and the modesty of this family, two
The bedroom cement house in morow is a small town about 27 miles (43 kilometers) west of Brano.
"I 've always been a girl," Luna said with a smile to her twin brother Elias, the kind of boy who likes distance education --Control the car. He nods.
"If you give all my toys to Luana, there's no difference," Elias said . ".
"She's still not a boy.
Gabriela mansiilla, Luana's mother, says there is always a clear difference between her twins.
Luana-born name Manuel wore a shirt on his head, apparently imitating long hair. He liked dolls.
The Princess and the Mermaid are his favorite movie characters.
His first sentence was, "my girl.
"In the first few years, the slight differences can be seen in the boy's photos.
They often wear the same clothes, but Manuel's eyes are softer and his head is more tilted.
When he was 2 years old, Manuel refused to wear trousers and insisted on wearing a skirt.
The struggle was very tiring, and sometimes Mansila just agreed.
"People nearby will call me 'crazy woman to dress the child, '" said 41-year-old mansiilla '. ".
When the boy was 3 years old, a group of psychologists and doctors opened a "male reinforcement" program for Manuel.
He is only allowed to play with male toys like action characters and wear boy clothes.
It is forbidden to use pink, and it is also forbidden to use cartoons with the heroine.
While the medical community generally believes that some children are born with this tendency, there is little consensus about the best way to deal with this behavior.
Michael Bailey, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, has conducted extensive research on the topic, and he believes that it is best for children to accept their birth gender --
If there is no other reason than to avoid having to consider pain and traumatic changes.
Bailey says Dragon
A long-term study of boys with a female tendency shows that when parents emphasize that they are boys, most people become gay people who accept gender.
"In this case, I sympathize with my parents, and I am happy that society is changing and more tolerant of transgender people," Bailey said . ".
"But the propaganda here has ignored our understanding of such children.
But other children's experts and transgender people believe that no one can decide except for the individual.
"Somehow we should prove our gender, but no one has to prove their gender," said Mara Kiesling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, based in Washington.
"This is not an option.
The kids only know who they are.
"Sabrina Gabrielle Bolke, an Argentine transgender woman who became friends with her family, said she had warned Luana that when she was a teenager she would have to make tough choices in hormone therapy, and whether gender changes will eventually occur.
Still, Bolke says she has always known that she is a woman, but can't take action until she is an adult, and she believes that early gender changes will help Luana grow.
"I hope I have the same opportunity," she said . ".
Luana said she remembered her mother trying to make her a boy.
Mansiilla says the addition of men has ruined their family life.
Manuel often hits his head against the wall.
A few pieces of hair fell out.
He would pull his penis and explain with a toddler logic that he used it at daycare but no longer wanted it at home.
It's too hard at night. manshira took Manuel to the sleep specialist.
A study found that the child woke up dozens of times an hour for unexplained reasons.
The battle is also running away from home.
There was a woman in the toy shop who told Luana that the doll she picked was "for girls ".
"At daycare, when the children had to line up, the teachers forced her to go with the children.
"Everyone told me, 'No.
"Line up the boy," said Luana, whose two front teeth were coming in.
"I didn't listen.
She began to call herself Luna.
About the time she was 5, mansiilla contacted the gay community in Argentina, a gay rights group.
"Just let her be a girl," mansiilla remembers someone telling her she agreed.
At the same time, the Argentine parliament is debating one of the most distant issues --
Cross-gender laws are reached worldwide.
This will allow for legal changes in gender, only one person said --so.
A small number of other countries that allow this change usually have many requirements, from actual gender changes to court orders.
Despite strong opposition from the Roman Catholic Church and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the law was passed on 2012.
Mansiilla applied for legal gender change in Luana in December 2012.
Due to the age of the child, the registry officer refused and the case was broadcast in the media.
Ten months later, Daniel, the current presidential candidate and the current presidential candidate?
Luana's request was approved.
"I remember signing on my DNI and becoming a girl," she said . " She refers to her country's ID card. She grins.
Judit Lacoa, a second-year teacher, said many parents were wary when Luana entered her state primary school last year.
But they have adjusted, she said.
Eight girls and 13 boys in the class responded calmly.
Luana is not a problem using a female bathroom.
Once, when a girl asked Luana why she had a penis, a friend jumped in, Locoa said.
"She is transgender," recalled lacoa, who explained casually.
There is no doubt that this level of comfort is partly due to the fact that Luana himself looks relaxed.
Let her define transgender people, and she will say, the important thing is --of-
In fact, "trans-sex girls have penis" and "trans-sex boys have Vagina ".
In a recent "really dare" recess game, a classmate asked her if she was really a boy. She did not hesitate. "No," she said. "I'm a girl.