Good Asian Drivers

Dear Kit,

Thank you so much for taking the time to write to us in response to the November article “My boyfriend turned out to be a girl.” We are grateful for your thoughtful feedback, and we’re taking your reaction very seriously.

At Seventeen, we are committed to supporting and embracing all girls, everywhere, including the LGBT community. We are working with leaders from GLAAD to further discuss LGBT issues, and how we can best reach out to teens who may have been hurt or disappointed by this coverage.

Our hope in sharing Sheri’s story in this article wasn’t to focus on “Derek” or his gender identity–it was to share the universal feelings that EVERYONE can relate to when it comes to their first love: being a part of something all-new and bigger than yourself; hoping your relationship won’t change or end; and the feelings of betrayal that you feel when you think you’ve been misled. The details of Sheri and Derek’s story revealed an important universal truth: All teens are struggling to figure out who they are–and whom they can trust.

In no way did we intend to alienate or judge anyone–to the contrary, our goal was to connect our readers who are on either side of a relationship like Sheri’s: We want to show them that it is normal and universal to want to keep some things private–and that it’s just as normal and universal to feel hurt when you find out facts you didn’t know about someone close to you.

In our efforts to convey Sheri’s authentic experience, we regret that we missed an opportunity to provide background about transgender people and the difficulties they often face in being who they are. It was never our intent to sensationalize this story or make negative assumptions about transgendered people.

We hope you’ll re-read the story with a new understanding for our intentions, and that you’ll continue to share your feedback on this or future articles in Seventeen. We are grateful for the discussions our articles generate among readers, and the feedback we get from readers with all kinds of perspectives.

Many thanks again for your thoughtfulness and time,
The Editors of Seventeen