The fact is that the topic of gender diversity has been talked about more openly in the last few years, and it is certain that it has existed much longer. For some children it is certainly a gender orientation different from sex, while for some children it is still a phase. 

Adolescence brings developmental challenges typical and natural for the process of growing up and searching for their own identity, so there is a part of children who find their own identity in gender diversity, and there is a number of children really represent a stage of growing up and searching for themselves. 

Given that information about gender diversity is available to our children, at the time of developing their identity, children are more often asked what gender they are and what sexualities. It is also a fact that by raising awareness of gender diversity, the availability of numerous digital content, various media channels (videos, music, series, etc.) and liberalization and openness of this topic, children and adolescents have more information about gender diversity and thus can more often seek their own identity in this way. The conclusion is that it may or may not be a stage of growing up, but regardless of that, in both cases it requires support and understanding from parents, peers, society and the environment in general, which in many cases is absent. It is extremely important to accept the child “here and now” by giving importance to it’s feelings and not diminishing it’s need for belonging and identification and It’s essential to give a child the time and space to explore it’s feelings and identity without pressure to come to a definitive conclusion.

For more on this topic, you can read the following scientific articles:

Huttunen, A., & Kortelainen, T. (2021). Meaning‐making on gender: Deeply meaningful information in a significant life change among transgender people. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 72(7), 799-810.

Budge, S. L., Katz-Wise, S. L., Tebbe, E. N., Howard, K. A., Schneider, C. L., & Rodriguez, A. (2013). Transgender emotional and coping processes: Facilitative and avoidant coping throughout gender transitioning. The Counseling Psychologist, 41(4), 601-647.