Gender identity and diversity is a growing topic of conversation around the world and Sam, the world’s first transgender educational toy, could be the perfect way to start that potentially complicated conversation with your child.
Gender creative Canada is a nonprofit transgender aid and support group specifically catering to children and families. They’ve devised Sam as a way to stop transphobia before it begins, and they are currently crowdsourcing to bring the toy to life through Kickstarter.
The video the group have created to support the toy has since gone viral, reaching over 1 million views on the group’s Facebook page.
The now viral video shares the emotional story of Sam from baby to troubled young adulthood.
The story is a crucial and much lacking representation for transgender youth, according to group’s Kickstarter page.
In the video Sam is portrayed as conflicted, preferring to play with trucks than dolls much to her parent’s confusion.
As Sam grows, there is nowhere to feel safe or accepted, meaning Sam is left isolated and confused.
Finally, Sam is accepted for the person inside, and if that doesn’t tug at your heart strings, the video is set to a cover version of Roxette’s Listen to your Heart. It’s a clip you won’t be forgetting in a hurry.
The toy that communicates this representation will be a Russian nesting doll, featuring six different versions and revealing a sweet little heart charm as the smallest in the set.
The toy is sold with a printed booklet, providing supporting information to help adults talk to children about gender identity.
Statistics show that play based learning is the best way to create natural and memorable conversations around issues of sex and gender. With 2-6% of boys and 5-12% of girls expressing their gender differently from their sex, it’s a conversation that needs to start.
You can see more from the Kick starter page here.
