NOELLA McMaher is a transgender model and activist. The 11-year-old walked the runway in New York Fashion Week for the first time at the age of 10 and went to her first protest at the age of six. Her parent, Asher said: “Starting at the age of two she was already telling us ‘I’m not a boy, I’m a girl’.” Noella legally transitioned at the age of seven and the family celebrated her name change with a surprise party. Her modelling career started in Chicago and she is believed to be the youngest transgender model to walk the runway in NYFW. She is proud to be bringing awareness to transgender people through her modelling and through her activism work. She said: “It’s important for me to go to protests to support people like me.” The family have been subjected to judgement and negativity with comments accusing Asher of ‘forcing’ or ‘abusing’ their child and they received a lot of backlash after Noella got hormone blockers. Asher said: “This process is under the purview of medical professionals, mental health professionals. It’s providing her the ability to continue living her life as who she is.” Asher, who is non-binary said: “Everyday I am in awe of who she has grown into.” They added that Noella inspired their own transition. Noella will be walking in more runway shows soon and will continue her activism work. She said: “No matter their age, people should be able to express who they are.”
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00:00 My daughter was two years old when she knew she was trans.
00:03 I'm raising awareness and support for other transgender kids.
00:07 I wore this on my first protest when I was six.
00:11 It's important to me to go to protests so I can support people like me.
00:14 And I'm the youngest transgender model to ever walk at New York Fashion Week.
00:18 My daughter inspired my own transition.
00:24 Noella, unfortunately, she had to learn at a young age that not everyone is accepting of who you are.
00:30 We got people who were claiming that we were doing some crazy body-altering procedure or claiming it's child abuse.
00:42 Can you talk about the reaction you received specifically to hormone blockers?
00:47 Hormone blockers.
00:50 Hi guys, what's for breakfast?
00:53 We got pancakes, hash browns and fruit.
00:56 Levi, how's that fruit?
00:59 Very, very good.
01:01 Yeah.
01:03 My name's Noella.
01:04 My name is Asher.
01:06 And this is Rory.
01:07 You say hi.
01:09 I have three unique kids.
01:12 And Noella is so special.
01:16 Every day I am in awe of who she's grown into.
01:21 I'm a transgender model and activist.
01:23 Transgender is when someone is assigned a male or female at birth but then change their gender to what they feel is comfortable.
01:31 So if they were male they would change it to female or female to male or either one of those into non-binary like my ava.
01:41 We have this giant thing.
01:43 It spins.
01:46 And yeah, that's where all my hats and purses are.
01:50 Do you know how many of them you have?
01:52 A lot.
01:53 This is one of my favorites.
01:55 It's a Pikachu hat.
01:56 That does this.
01:58 Starting at the age of two she was already telling us, "I'm not a boy, I'm a girl."
02:04 You'd be like, "Oh, you're such a cute little boy."
02:06 Nope.
02:07 I'm not a boy, I'm a girl.
02:08 She was struggling a lot with tantrums.
02:11 They thought it was sensory processing disorder.
02:13 And then when she was four and a half she went to the gender clinic at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago.
02:19 And the doctor sat down and said, "Are you a girl?"
02:21 And she said, "Yep."
02:22 And he's like, "Okay, from now on you're a girl."
02:24 And it was like a light switch.
02:27 It went from this really hard toddler trying to get her to navigate the world and put on clothes and tantruming to the easiest kid ever.
02:39 Do you remember when you realized you were a girl?
02:41 No.
02:43 It's far back because I remember I felt like a girl.
02:47 I do remember my gender reveal party and it was amazing.
02:51 For Noella, after she did her legal transition when she was seven, she had her name changed.
02:57 And we threw her a surprise party complete with drag queens because at that point she was affirmed socially, legally, living her life authentically as who she is.
03:08 This is a VIP pass I got when I made history walking in New York Fashion Week as the youngest trans model.
03:16 So one of my favorite stories about Noella is how she started in the fashion world.
03:22 In Chicago Fashion Week has always had one night that's the trans media fashion show.
03:28 Noella took that as a, "I need to do this. We have to go."
03:33 And she walked for a panel and booked two designers, one for the trans media show and one for a mainstream show.
03:40 From then on it was just history.
03:45 There it is.
03:47 This is what I wore to the 150 year anniversary to Bloomingdale's and Harvard Bazaar.
03:54 I don't know if it fits me anymore.
03:56 This is the dress I wore to Dapper Q. Dapper Q is the biggest LGBTQ fashion show in the entire country.
04:04 How does it feel to bring more awareness to transgender kids?
04:09 It feels good. I'm going to put this right here.
04:12 It feels good.
04:14 I'm so glad that didn't hit me.
04:17 It feels good that I can bring awareness to transgender kids because I get to show other trans kids that they can do anything.
04:31 They put their mind to it and they can be whoever they want to be in the future.
04:35 I was six when I went to my first protest.
04:39 Show us the sign that you had at the protest.
04:41 It's right up here. It says "I'm not scary, I'm transgender."
04:45 I wore this on my first protest when I was six and it just stuck with me ever since. It's been on my wall.
04:52 It's important to me to go to protests so I can support people like me.
04:56 I came out as gay in the early 2000s.
05:00 I could say from a very young age it's always been like this kind of cringe feeling but you kind of just power through, right?
05:08 And watching my daughter deal with media, deal with critics, go on the runway in New York Fashion Week and be like,
05:17 "I'm out, I'm proud, I'm trans, I'm 10 years old."
05:20 Like, I can tell a lie. I'm transgender. I can do these things.
05:25 And so I'm non-binary and transmasculine and I use they/them pronouns.
05:30 And I started my medical transition, so testosterone, in 2020.
05:35 I definitely say that Noella pushed and inspired me to continue to move forward in my own transition and living my own authentic life.
05:44 But it's also been hard because as soon as I came out, you know, right-wing media was like,
05:49 "You're trans too? You must have made her trans."
05:52 Noella, unfortunately, she had to learn at a young age that not everyone is accepting of who you are.
05:59 And instead of going back inside of herself or, you know, hiding, she became louder and stronger.
06:08 What does being an activist mean to you?
06:11 It means I can show people, like other trans people and kids, they don't have to go through this alone and other people have the same issues.
06:19 Hi everyone, I just got into my room. I'm waiting for the doctors so I can get my blockers. I'm super excited.
06:25 Can you talk about the reaction you received specifically to hormone blockers?
06:29 Hormone blockers. Noella made the choice on her own.
06:35 She asked if she could livestream the day from getting to the hospital to, "Okay, I just did this. Okay, we're heading to the OR."
06:44 It's blocker time and see you on the other side, guys. Peace.
06:48 The procedure was like 15 seconds long.
06:50 Hi everyone, I'm in post-op and I just finished my blockers. Everything went well.
06:55 We got everything from incredible support, parents reaching out to us, asking us how they can get more information for their kids,
07:04 to people who were claiming that we were giving her bottom surgery or that we were doing some crazy body-altering procedure or claiming it's child abuse.
07:18 This process is under the purview of medical professionals, mental health professionals.
07:23 It's providing her the ability to continue living her life as who she is.
07:30 So even though we got pushback, the benefits to it are life-altering.
07:37 Next for Noella is New York Fashion Week. It's always New York Fashion Week.
07:43 And then she's been doing a lot of speaking engagements and then of course it's going to sixth grade.
07:49 She's going to middle school.
07:51 I make sure there's a really good balance that her career isn't taking over her life and she's still enjoying life as a kid.
07:57 I believe that people should be able to transition at any age because I feel like no matter the age, people should be able to express who they are.
08:06 It feels amazing because I know that I'm inspiring other people.
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