Resources for Gender Variant and Transgender Children and Their Families

Hi,

The following may be helpful for anyone who is working with children who identify as a gender (or genders) not in congruence with the gender they were assigned at birth.

It is crucial to support the children in their gender identity, as suicide rates are HUGE for transgender children, youth, and adults. If parents have a tough time accepting their child's gender varience, they need to know that their response can mean life or death to their child, literally. I can't emphasize this enough.

I am including links and URLs, just in case links don't work.

1) Gender Spectrum: www.genderspectrum.org

Here's a particularly good page of links for families - http://www.genderspectrum.org/resources/child-family

GS has a number of great links as well as a family and professionals conference every year in Berkeley. Does professional trainings around the country.

2) The Transgender Child by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper - excellent book! (You can buy it through Gender Spectrum).

http://www.genderspectrum.org/store

3) Center of Excellence for Transgender Health

The learning center page is excellent! http://transhealth.ucsf.edu/trans?page=lib-00-00

4) Transgender Law Center - http://transgenderlawcenter.org/cms/

Offers a good health care brochure with guidelines for professionals. Also. many other good PDFs to download. More geared to adults, but the guidelines are helpful.

5) WPATH - World Professional Association for Transgender Health Standards of Care

http://www.wpath.org/documents/Standards%20of%20Care%20V7%20-%20201...

6) ACA/ALGBTIC Counseling Compentencies for Transgender Clients - http://www.counseling.org/Resources/Competencies/ALGBTIC_Competenci...

7) Rachel Pepper, co-author of The Transgender Child, will have a new book out this spring. Here is what the author says:

"Transitions of the Heart: Stories of Love, Struggle and Acceptance by Mothers of Transgender and Gender Variant Children. This amazing collection by mothers of both adults and children who are transgender and gender variant will be published by Cleis Press in spring 2012. More than 30 mothers from the US, Canada and the UK shared their stories with me, some for the very first time, in this ground-breaking anthology. I can't wait till this book is published, for I know it will change the hearts and minds of so many people, and lead to better understanding and acceptance of transgender people and their families."

I have contributed a piece to this upcoming book, "Kid Chrysalis," about my oldest child. I also share the author's hope that this will contribute to understanding of trans and gender variant kids.

Amy

Tags: ALGBTIC, American, Association, Center, Competencies, Counseling, Excellence, Health, Law, Transgender, More…for, of

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on February 6, 2012 at 7:56am

THANK YOU, Amy!! This is valuable information for us all. I have noticed that parents are presenting adolescents for issues like weight/eating problems and anxiety and it becomes apparent that the child has sexual identity struggles that are being denied/avoided at home. I look forward to learning more about how to help these families.

Permalink Reply by Amy Marsh on February 6, 2012 at 8:15am

And thank you for inviting this information into Kidswork!

With aloha,

Amy

Permalink Reply by Amy Marsh on February 6, 2012 at 8:19am

I want to add that sometimes kids and adolescents are confused about whether they are "gay" (which has become a catch-all term among children) or transgender. Help the child or teen with gender identity concerns first, and then the issues of sexual preference can be explored later. It might help to let an adolescent know the following:

Depending on gender ID, a trans person can be:

1) a lesbian trans woman (assigned male at birth, gender ID is female, attracted to other women);

2) a heterosexual trans woman (assigned male at birth, gender ID is female, attracted to men as the "opposite sex.");

3) a bisexual or omni-sexual trans woman (assigned male at birth, gender ID is female, attracted to male and female, and/or other non-binary gendered people);

4) an asexual trans woman (assigned male at birth, gender ID is female, does not desire a sexual relationship with anyone, though may want an emotional partnership very much);

5) a homosexual (gay) trans man (assigned female at birth, gender ID is male, attracted to other men);

6) a heterosexual trans man (assigned female at birth, gender ID is male, attracted to women);

7) a bisexual trans man, (assigned female at birth, gender ID is male, attracted to male and female, and/or other non-binary gendered people);

8) an asexual trans man - (assigned female at birth, gender ID is male, does not desire a sexual relationship with anyone, though may want an emotional partnership very much).

There are also trans and gender variant people who have dual or multiple or indeterminant genders as well, and who have a range of sexual preferences (as above).

Permalink Reply by Amy Marsh on February 7, 2012 at 6:47pm

I wanted to add the Family Acceptance Project as a resource as well. http://familyproject.sfsu.edu/

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