Theo Beasley, 17, and his classmates at Cherry Creek High School produced a short film this year to educate teachers about transgender students and use of pronouns. This is how he summed up the message of the project: “This is what’s happening and it would be cool if you could accept it.”

At his request, most teachers use he-him pronouns to address Theo as well as his new name, although one teacher continues to say “Hey girl” or “Miss Theo” and another uses no pronouns at all.

Theo dreads a day when there is a substitute teacher, who is likely to call roll using his birth name, the official legal name in the school computer system. “I just try to suck it up because it’s only for a day,” he said.

About 40 people are members of a gay-straight alliance at Cherry Creek called Spectrum, and about one-quarter of them identify as transgender. “It’s a crazy amount,” Theo said. “A lot of my friends are transgender.” Among 3,500 students at Cherry Creek, about a dozen identify as trans, Theo said. “Obviously, it isn’t a big percentage but it’s enough to be comfortable,” he said.

Almost all are trans boys, who are more easily accepted than those who transition to female. “People are more comfortable with judging when it’s to femininity,” Theo said. “It’s a lot easier to be a trans guy than to be a trans girl, just across the board, in high school and in society.”

Theo binds his chest and often wears a black baseball cap, which seems to him the key to getting others to see him as a guy.

Students in the Spectrum club who transitioned in elementary or middle school are mentors for those transitioning at Cherry Creek High. The group is so comfortable with the concept of gender fluidity, they can switch a friend’s preferred name or pronouns almost instantly when requested.

Theo, a junior who struggled since third grade to fit into gender norms, preferring to wear boys’ clothes instead of girly dresses, identified as “a-gender” for a few months last year. Theo didn’t feel like a boy or a girl, spending those months in short hair and big sweaters and asking friends to use they-them pronouns. Near the end of the year, Theo chose his new name and told friends he identified as a boy.

“We are not extreme,” he said. “We are just trying to live our lives and let others live their lives. Being a trans guy is just home. It’s a label that once I had it, this is correct. I can finally be myself. You don’t have that kept inside of you. Once that burden is off your shoulders, everything is better because you are just genuine.”

Cal