Parenting Transgender Children

• In Event: 525 - Regular Session. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender 2

Abstract

Despite the recent "Transgender tipping point" in public awareness of transgender Americans, we know little about the experiences of their parents. Parents of transgender children (N=14) recounted four ways in which their parenting experiences were more difficult and isolating than other parents of a national LGBT support organization: the physical changes their children undergo, the lack of media representations of transgender lives, the effect of their child’s gender transition on their identity as a parent, and the tensions involved in their child’s successful transition in public settings. Parental isolation may be alleviated by recognizing four unremarked experiences shared among parents of LGBT children: adjusting to changes in their child’s appearance, the process of grief and mourning, the tendency to hierarchically rank parental difficulties, and fears of being a bad parent. Counterintuitively, the trend towards LGBT acceptance has not made things better for parents. Parents of transgender children still struggle in isolation, although perhaps with less guilt and self-judgment than parents of lesbian, gay or bisexual children.

Authors

• Taylor L. Field, Oberlin College

• Greggor Mattson, Oberlin College