This 13-Year-Old Girl Is Out To ‘Change The World’

Think back to when you were in school. Ten, 11 years old, and you’re called to speak before the class, about who you are.

Rebekah Bruesehoff did that before a crowd of 200 strangers when she was 10. The following year, she traveled to Houston and did it again, in front of 31-thousand people, at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Youth Gathering. Her father is a Lutheran minister.

“I’ve learned that by being who God has called me to be, and by telling my story, hearts and minds are changed,” declared the 11-year-old girl in hot pink pigtails. “I can change the world!”

And what she wants to change about the world most of all is how it sees girls like her. Clearly, Rebekah is not just any ordinary girl, and yet that is exactly the message she conveys at every opportunity.

“Transgender kids are just like other kids,” she told the gathering. Rebekah is transgender.

Now 13, Rebekah already has quite the resume. She’s a straight A student, plays clarinet, loves to dance ballet and is also on the field hockey team. Given the lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, she’s spending every day at home with her parents and two younger brothers in Sussex County, N.J. “It’s pretty bizarre,” she said, “not getting to go anywhere.”

But the lockdown has not diminished her activism. In April she led a daily online storytime session on Instagram and Facebook Live, reading LGBTQ+ books to younger school children, alongside her mom, writer and speaker Jamie Bruesehoff.

Late last year, Marvel Comics chose her as the inspiration for a new transgender superhero, Mighty Rebekah, as part of its Marvel’s Hero Project. The idea is to highlight everyday kids who are doing something extraordinary. Not only did the artists create a comic book that focused on her bravery as an activist, Rebekah and her family were featured in a Disney+ documentary.

And just this week, another crowning achievement: Rebekah was named a GenderCool Champion, in an announcement on the group’s Facebook page and on Twitter.

“Rebekah was born a Champion,” said Jen Grosshandler, co-founder of The GenderCool Project, a non-profit national storytelling campaign and movement. Its aim is to replace misinformed opinions about trans people with positive experiences, by meeting remarkable trans and nonbinary young people face to face. The nationally-recognized organization connects these teens, called “champions,” with corporations eager to expand their understanding of the changing face of tomorrow’s workforce.

“She has the most incredible combination of power, grace and humor,” said Grosshandler. “Her words move people to think differently, and we are beyond excited that Rebekah has joined GenderCool.”

“We both stumbled into public advocacy three years ago when she went viral at a rally in Jersey City,” Jamie said. The Trump administration had just rescinded the Obama-era guidance for schools to accommodate trans students, particularly in terms of their use of bathrooms matching their gender identity. “She was holding a sign,” Jamie recalled, “and when I posted that online, it went crazy viral.”

Rebekah was in fourth grade, and suddenly was being interviewed by Teen Vogue, HuffPost, Yahoo! and more. “She realized she had a platform and a voice,” said Jamie.

“I heard stories of people who got kicked out of their home because of their gender identity, whose families weren't supportive and friendly, and went through really tough times,” Rebekah said. “I knew I needed to use my platform and my voice for people who didn't have the experience that I had. And I knew it was really important to lift up those people who couldn't get their voices out to help the most vulnerable in the community.”

She’s already used her voice to make change in her hometown and her state, speaking before state lawmakers in favor of a bill to add LGBTQ curriculum to schools starting this fall. Gov. Phil Murphy signed it into law in February 2019. Her local board of education added a new policy in January of this year to ensure transgender students are treated equally as all other students.

What does the future hold for Rebekah?

“When I grow up, I really want to be an author,” she said, “because I love writing. I want to write a story about my experience being trans, to teach more people.

“Trans kids are just like other kids, and it's not all about my gender. I often say that my gender is the least exciting thing about me. I have a bunch of other things that I do, things that I love."

The world awaits you, Rebekah.