TUESDAY May 30, 2023: 'LEAVING 'Him' BEHIND' by award winning, ZUMA Press photo-journalist Robin Rayne: Kai-Lynn Diamond held tight to the long-stemmed rose all graduating women received as they left the stage on the field at Paulding County High School's football stadium, diplomas in hand. For Kai-Lynn, the single flower was as much quiet recognition of her new gender as it was her school's commencement tradition. It also symbolized departing a place of pain and loneliness because she didn't fit in with other students, and leaving her birth name and gender in the dust. Welcome to 'LEAVING 'Him' BEHIND'
© zReportage.com Story of the Week #890: TUESDAY May 30, 2023: 'LEAVING 'Him' BEHIND' by award winning, ZUMA Press photo-journalist Robin Rayne: Kai-Lynn Diamond held tight to the long-stemmed rose all graduating women received as they left the stage on the field at Paulding County High School's football stadium, diplomas in hand. For Kai-Lynn, the single flower was as much quiet recognition of her new gender as it was her school's commencement tradition. It also symbolized departing a place of pain and loneliness because she didn't fit in with other students, and leaving her birth name and gender in the dust. Welcome to 'LEAVING 'Him' BEHIND'

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, with mother CRYSTAL and sister EMMA, at their suburban Atlanta home. Kai-Lynn transitioned from male to female when she was a sophomore in high school. She and her family are relieved that her transgender diagnosis and treatment began when it did, as Georgia's new law that restricts medical treatment for transgender youth under 18 begins July 1. 'If I had't been able to live as I truly am I don't think I'd be alive now,' she said. While life in high school has been a lonely time since she changed genders, she's hopeful that her future as a college student and beyond will be much richer. 'I just want to be a normal girl taking classes,' she said.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

CRYSTAL DIAMOND joins her transgender daughter KAI-LYNN, 18, to protest new Georgia law SB 140, which restricts gender-affirming health care for residents under 18 years. They joined hundreds of transgender individuals, families and advocates for a rally outside statehouse on the National Transgender Day of Visibility March 31.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, practices her skateboard skills at a city park, 'where nobody cares that I'm trans, everybody's chill,' she said. She transitioned from male to female in high school, and had a lonely experience. 'It was a mostly redneck school, and I didn't fit in. I did not have any friends, I ate my lunch in a locker room,' she said. 'I feel bad for trans kids in Georgia who won't be allowed to be who they really are because of the new law,' she said, speaking of SB140, which becomes effective in July, 2023. It prevents students under 18 from receiving gender-affirming medical care.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, transitioned from male to female when she was a sophomore in high school. 'If I hadn't been able to live as I truly am I don't think I'd be alive now,' she said. While life in high school has been a lonely time since she changed genders, she's hopeful that her future as a college student and beyond will be much richer. 'I just want to be a normal girl taking classes,' she said.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, practices her skateboard skills at a city park, 'where nobody cares that I'm trans, everybody's chill,' she said. She transitioned from male to female in high school, and had a lonely experience.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, transitioned from male to female when she was a sophomore in high school. She and her family are relieved that her transgender diagnosis and treatment began when it did, as Georgia's new law that restricts medical treatment for transgender youth under 18 begins July 1.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, practices her skateboard skills at a city park, 'where nobody cares that I'm trans, everybody's chill,' she said. She transitioned from male to female in high school, and had a lonely experience.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, savors a rose presented to all graduating women, as her grandmother Cathy Snyder watches. Kai-Lynn Diamond celebrates her graduation from Paulding County High School, leaving her past as a boy who became a girl, and looking ahead to a simpler life in her proper gender.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, celebrates her graduation from Paulding County High School, leaving her past as a boy who became a girl, and looking ahead to a simpler life in her proper gender. She transitioned to female as a sophomore in high school at age 16.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, is hugged by her mother CRYSTAL DIAMOND following the graduation ceremony at Paulding County High School, leaving her past as a boy who became a girl, and looking ahead to a simpler life in her proper gender.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, celebrates her graduation from Paulding County High School, leaving her past as a boy who became a girl, and looking ahead to a simpler life in her proper gender.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, a high school senior preparing for graduation, shops for new clothes at a suburban Atlanta mall. She transitioned from male to female when she was a sophomore in high school.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, shops for new clothes with her mother CRYSTAL at a suburban Atlanta mall. She transitioned from male to female when she was a sophomore in high school.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, shops for new clothes with her mother CRYSTAL at a suburban Atlanta mall. She transitioned from male to female when she was a sophomore in high school.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, with mother CRYSTAL and sister EMMA, at their suburban Atlanta home. Kai-Lynn transitioned from male to female when she was a sophomore in high school.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, with mother CRYSTAL and sister EMMA, at their suburban Atlanta home. Kai-Lynn transitioned from male to female when she was a sophomore in high school. She and her family are relieved that her transgender diagnosis and treatment began when it did, as Georgia's new law that restricts medical treatment for transgender youth under 18 begins July 1.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, stands with hundreds of of transgender individuals, families and advocates for a rally outside statehouse on the National Transgender Day of Visibility March 31. They were protesting new Georgia law SB 140, which restricts gender-affirming health care for residents under 18 years. The law becomes effective July 1.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire

KAI-LYNN DIAMOND, 18, practices her skateboard skills at a city park, 'where nobody cares that I'm trans, everybody's chill,' she said. She transitioned from male to female in high school, and had a lonely experience. 'It was a mostly redneck school, and I didn't fit in. I did not have any friends, I ate my lunch in a locker room,' she said. 'I feel bad for trans kids in Georgia who won't be allowed to be who they really are because of the new law,' she said, speaking of SB140, which becomes effective in July, 2023. It prevents students under 18 from receiving gender-affirming medical care.
© Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire