Transgender Child's Essay Calls For A Better World Through Equality

An essay written by an 11-year-old transgender child named Sadie Croft has been circulating on social media, bringing its clear call for transgender equality to wider attention. The essay, titled "Sadie's Dream for the World," envisions a time when the discrimination and stigma that transgender people face on a daily basis - at every age - will be over.

Sadie writes, "It would be a better world if everyone knew that transgender people have the same hopes and dreams as everyone else. We like to make friends and want to go to school. Transgender people want to get good jobs and go to doctors like they are exactly the same. It really isn't that hard to like transgender people because we are like everyone else." Sadie, who previously used the name Josie, has told her story through media appearances on The Dr. Oz Show and The Tyra Show. 

Sadie's moving words come on the heels of President Obama's historic inauguration speech, in which he called for gay and lesbian people to be treated "like anyone else under the law," and cited the Stonewall riots as a pivotal moment in the movement toward equality. You can read the full text of "Sadie's Dream for the World" below: 

"The world would be a better place if everyone had the right to be themselves, including people who have a creative gender identity and expression. Transgender people are not allowed the freedom to do things everyone else does, like go to the doctor, go to school, get a job, and even make friends.