A South Shore teenager is facing a dilemma.

He's transgender, and slowly working his way to acceptance in his community.

But the 14-year-old says he's no longer able to attend school because the school's staff and bureaucracy seem unable to adapt to his reality.

David James Lazure is now being home-schooled by his mother after stress and anxiety took their toll on his health.

"I miss being around my friends, but I don't miss every negative thing that happened at school," said David James.

David James was born female but discovered last year his sexual identity was that of a male.

His family embraced him but things didn't go so well when he started school in September.

"The teachers weren't rude to me, but they were sort of, I'd say that they didn't really understand and they misgendered me a lot. And that was really hard," he said.

One example was the time he told a teacher he wasn't feeling well that day.

"He told me that I had to assume my choices and that I had chosen to be trans, and because I had chosen to be trans then I had to assume that I had go to classes anyways," said David James.

His mother witnessed his psychological distress and grew concerned.

"Over the months, I was really concerned about him. He had suicidal thoughts and we went to see the psychologist and she told me she was really worried about his situation," said Odette Plante.

David James and his mother admit the International School in McMasterville has done a lot to accommodate them, but at the same time school officials admit it's the first time they've ever been faced with such a situation

One of the problems is that legally, transgender teens can't change their gender until they're adults.

At the International School David James was attending, some teachers insisted on sticking to his birth name and gender.

"The marked gender didn't correspond with his real identity. He has an 'F' instead of an 'M'," said Plante.

That's a lot of pressure for a 14-year-old.

"It was getting to a point where I wasn't comfortable in school," said David James.

But change could be on the way.

Quebec's Justice Minister Stephanie Vallée is expected to soon table a bill that will allow minors to change their sexual designation, as is the case now in most other provinces.

It's a moment that can't come soon enough for David James.