A child is born. It’s a boy! It’s a girl! Not so fast! In this series, you will meet young people who defy our gender assumptions. While society may promote the gender binary, nature is more varied.
Gender identity is not a choice but a natural path based on many factors—genetics, hormones, environment and culture. Intolerance has consequences, including self-harm and suicide attempts (52% higher than among cisgender teens), which can be traced to condemnation, discrimination and bullying in all areas of family and societal life.
This story, which appeared in National Geographic’s “Gender Revolution” issue, was an opportunity to meet people from the United States, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Samoa, who had the courage to make themselves visible. Please consider their lives. Perhaps someday, courage will not be necessary to simply be one’s self.
Artist Bios
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Lynn Johnson
Lynn Johnson photographs the human condition. A contributor to National Geographic, Johnson is known for finding beauty and meaning in elusive, difficult subjects—threatened languages, zoonotic disease, rape in the military ranks, the centrality of water in village life. She collaborates with the people she portrays to honor their visions as well as her own. At National Geographic Photo Camps, she helped at-risk youth around the world find their creative voices.
Organizations
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National Geographic
Representing the largest brand on social media with over 780 million followers and 1.1 billion impressions each month, National Geographic Content’s award-winning and critically acclaimed storytelling inspires fans of all ages to connect with, explore, and care about the world through factual storytelling. National Geographic Content, part of a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society, reaches over 532 million people worldwide in 172 countries and 33 languages as a digital, social, and print publisher and across the global National Geographic channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO), National Geographic Documentary Films, and direct-to-consumer platforms Disney+ and Hulu. Established in 1888, National Geographic is a trusted print and digital publication that creates visually stunning, richly reported photojournalism and distinguished, impartial coverage of the globe’s most pressing issues. Visit nationalgeographic.com and natgeotv.com or explore Instagram, Threads, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and Reddit.
Redefining Gender
Featuring: Lynn Johnson
Curated by: Todd James
Locations
View Location Details Brooklyn Bridge Park – Emily Warren Roebling Plaza1 Water St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
This location is part of Brooklyn Bridge Park
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