Today is the Transgender Day of Visibility. While I’m not trans myself, and can’t presume to speak for the trans experience, I’ve covered a few trans-related items as they relate to parenting and kids. Here’s a quick roundup in honor of the day:
- This American Life On Transgender Children: The NPR show did a great piece in February profiling two eight-year-old transgender children. The segment starts about 29 minutes into the show.
- Trans Parent, Gay Son: Pride Across the Generations is an interview I did with Marti Abernathey of Transadvocate.
- The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals
, by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper, is a great resource for parents and educators. The Kids of Trans Resource Guide, by Monica Canfield-Lenfest of the COLAGE Kids of Trans program, looks from the flip side. Here’s my review of both.
- 10,000 Dresses
, by Marcus Ewert, is a delightful new picture book with a transgender protagonist. It’s just been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. My review and author interview is here.
- Another great read, and a previous Lambda winner is Transparent
, Cris Beam’s gripping book on homeless transgender teens. I did a small post on it about a year ago.
I’ll also make this a thread on gender roles and kids. As a parent, what do you find most noticeable about your children’s gender identity or expression? Is it what you would have expected before you had kids? What are your fears/concerns/inspirations as regards their gender identity and expression? Do you think L, G, B, and T parents each have different concerns? Do they also have different concerns than non-LGBT parents?
Thanks for the support. I missed the day, sigh, though I did blog on it on my personal holiday (1 April):
http://www.refractivethoughts.org/refractive_thoughts/2009/04/i-missed-it.html