A 10-year-old transgender girl from Chicago will already be a runway veteran when she shows next month at New York Fashion Week, with plans to walk in Paris next year.
Noella McMaher, whose parents identify as transgender and who has a little brother they refer to as “theybie,” made her NYFW debut in February as one of several trans and non-binary models to walk for Trans Clothing Company. She was the youngest person to participate in the event.
Noella walks the runway with the Trans Clothing Company brand at New York Fashion Week in February.Getty Images for track 7
Noella has a lively social media presence and what appears to be a thriving home life with her parents, Dee McMaher, 35, and Ray McMaher, 32, who were born biologically female but now identify as non-binary.
“Noella’s first show was Chicago Fashion Week at age 7,” her father, Dee, told Forbes earlier this year. “A trans teen told her about the open auditions and watched YouTube videos to prepare. She hired two designers at her first audition. Since then, she has been to two Chicago Fashion Weeks and a handful of smaller shows.”
Noella’s parents, Ray and Dee McMaher, were born biological females, but no longer identify as female.Dee McMaher/Facebook
Dee told The Post on Wednesday that Noella didn’t like wearing boys’ clothes even when she was little and was often misbehaving. Dee said that she was eventually taken to a gender clinic and she recovered once she felt free to be a girl.
“Our job as parents to our three children is to accept their individual needs,” Dee told The Post. “With Noella we have a girl who has known who she was from very early on.”
Neither of Noella’s parents pushed her to be a girl, Dee said.
“My spouse and I probably have two pairs of shoes between us,” he said. “We are not into fashion at all. Noella is the complete opposite. She loves glitter, makeup and clothes. We wouldn’t even know how to foster that kind of femininity.”
“At the age of 2, he began to tell us that he was not a boy. At 4.5 years old she transitioned socially and at 7 years old she transitioned legally,” Dee, father of Noella, said of the girl.@thenoellabella/Instagram
Noella apparently transitioned before her own parents. “She is the most confident person I know. I tell her all the time that I want to be like her when she grows up,” Dee said.@thenoellabella/Instagram
For anyone who asks how a child knows they are transgender at just 10 years old, Dee said she has a ready answer.
“At the age of 2, he began to tell us that he was not a boy. At 4.5 he transitioned socially and at 7 he transitioned legal.”
“My spouse and I are also transgender,” Dee added. “Noella transitioned long before we did. She is the most confident person I know. I tell her all the time that I want to be like her when she grows up.”
Noella lives in the Chicago area and has walked once in New York Fashion Week.@thenoellabella/Instagram
In 2019, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker celebrated the signing of an executive order aimed at promoting the rights of LGBTQ students in schools with Noella (far right) supporting her.CNN
In 2019, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, whose billionaire family is one of the largest donors to transgender causes in the world, signed an executive order aimed at promoting the rights of LGBTQ students in schools. Noella was among those posing next to her, wearing a pink tutu with a giant bow in her hair and a T-shirt that read, “This is what she looks like as a trans.”
Noella and her younger brother Levi (who her parents say is a boy and wants to stay a boy) were born to Dee and Dee’s then-husband, Timothy McCord, a scientist in the Chicago area.
McCord told The Post that he has no problem with Noella coming out as trans, but said he is a little worried that her life is too public as a model. As for Noella having any possible medical interventions in the future, like being given puberty blockers and hormones, McCord said he’s not quite sure what to make of that.
“I have nothing to say about it,” he said. “She is no longer my daughter.”
Noella’s biological father is Timothy McCord, a Chicago-area scientist. LinkedIn
Dee and McCord separated years ago and finally divorced in 2019, but at first McCord saw the children regularly, she said.
He said an incident in 2016, when he grabbed Noella’s arm after she had a tantrum, tore the family apart forever and he hasn’t seen his children since. “The next day Dee called and said you need a break from the kids because Noella has a sprain,” she said. “Then she called back and said Noella’s arm was broken. I think she needs a lawyer.
McCord said a legal nightmare ensued and he ended up being arrested and spending several nights in Chicago’s Cook County Jail. He said he later made the decision to plead guilty to misdemeanor child endangerment because he felt that continuing to fight within the legal system would be futile.
He tried to resume visits with the children, but said it was impossible.
Noella’s father said he is now separated from the 10-year-old girl but hopes she will contact him when she is older.@thenoellabella/Instagram
Noella has a lively presence on social media, where she promotes the rights of trans people.@thenoellabella/Instagram
“I tried to get back into their lives, but it ended up being too contentious and stressful for everyone,” he said. Although he said that he does not believe he is guilty of what he is accused of, he decided to let Dee and her partner formally adopt the children and relinquished all rights to them.
“I was given the opportunity to step back and let Dee’s partner adopt the children and I did so in the hope that they wouldn’t have all the stress that this was causing in their lives,” she said.
McCord said he will be open if the children try to contact him when they are older.
“If you have questions, I’m here,” he said. “I’m not hard to find.”
Source: nypost.com