The student leaders of the Gay Straight Alliance at Madison West High School sat around one recent day over their lunch hour, reviewing reaction to the presentations they’d given the day before to several freshmen health classes.
TRANSGENDER YOUTH
For Madison teenager, soul-searching leads to new gender, new life
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Ayden Prehara, 16, makes his way through the halls of Madison West High School, where he is a leader of the Gay Straight Alliance. "I don't want people to assume that 'transgender' means 'depressed,'" he said. "I think I have myself pretty much together."
Ayden Prehara, 16, talks with his parents, Todd and Chris, in his bedroom at the family's Fitchburg home. Ayden said he feels fortunate to have such supportive and understanding parents, something some of his transgender friends lack.
Ayden Prehara, 16, pictured in his bedroom, said he became much more outgoing and confident when he transitioned from female to male just after turning 14. "I don't have to hold things back anymore," he said.
Ayden Prehara holds a vial of testosterone in his Fitchburg bedroom. Regular injections of the hormone are helping the 16-year-old transition from female to male.
A high school ID card from Ayden Prehara's freshman year at West High School shows how he blacked out his given name and wrote in his chosen name. As with many people who are transgender, he prefers not to reveal his given name. He has legally changed his name to Ayden.
The change is intended to make the school more inclusive and more welcoming to transgender and gender-fluid students.
