Katie Couric did a show yesterday on “Transgender Youth,” which was really rather good, and reminded me I’d never posted about these two children’s books by author, theater artist, and parent S. Bear Bergman. Last year, Bergman launched a Kickstarter project to produce “books and more for gender-independent kids and families.” The first two picture books from the resulting micro-press, Flamingo Rampant, are colorful, fantastical tales.
Sometimes, a piece of writing just makes me think. Chase Strangio’s “Making Room for More Impossible Decisions: Reflections on Being a Trans Parent” at HuffPo is one of them. Strangio gives much food for thought to parents across the LGBT spectrum and beyond, and calling for a greater understanding among parents of all types.
There have been several great items this week on children and gender identity and expression, including a terrific new 15-minute video from TransActive Education & Advocacy. Have a look.
Have 10 minutes? Then check out Transforming Family, a short new documentary that “jumps directly into an ongoing conversation among trans people about parenting.” I found I learned new things specific to trans parents’ experiences, but also found much to reflect on simply because all LGBT parents in some way love and/or live across traditional gender lines.
There’s a new place online for families with gender non-conforming and transgender children to share their stories and experiences: the Gender Spectrum Lounge. The Gender Spectrum organization has been around for a number of years now, and also runs the yearly Gender Spectrum Family Conference.
Parents of transgender children “are the best parents ever. They unconditionally love their children, even when they don’t completely understand what their child is going through,” writes mom Tracie Stratton (herself such a parent) in Transitions of the Heart: Stories of Love, Struggle, and Acceptance by Mothers of Transgender and Gender Variant Children, edited by Rachel Pepper. That lesson of acceptance and love, conveyed through the 32 essays in the collection, make Transitions of the Heart a valuable read for any parent, regardless of the gender identity of their children.
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) has just announced the publication of Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy, “the first book to comprehensively address legal issues facing transgender people in the family law context and provide practitioners the tools to effectively represent transgender clients.”
Here are a few of the stories that caught my eye this week—some lovely family profiles and a few legal and political items, both good and bad:
In the Life Media has posted an “It Gets Better” video featuring parents of transgender children. In the video, the parents, members of PFLAG’s support group for families of transgender children, “share their personal struggles to understand their child’s needs and find support for both themselves and their families.”
Sometimes a story about an LGBT family comes along that really stands out for its warmth, understanding, and optimism. Today, NPR’s StoryCorps ran “A Mom Becomes A Man, And A Family Sticks Together,”about Les GrantSmith, a transgender man, his husband Scott, and their two daughters. It’s a wonderful account that stays consistently positive without hiding the challenges the family faced. Here’s the lovely beginning:
