Posts Tagged "Debi Jackson"
My Little Advocate Makes a Splash in Her Avery Chat Video
We knew. We knew that the time would come when AJ wanted to speak out for herself. As her parents, we were hoping it wouldn’t be for a long time. You know, the way you never want your kids to date. We thought we had time. We thought we could be better prepared. We wanted to protect her. But she is an amazing kid. An amazingly headstrong kid, too. With so much coverage of trans issues in the news, from the NBC Nightly News covering two trans kids to the big Bruce Jenner interview, we stumbled across a post from Entertainment Tonight listing 9 Inspirational Stories of Transgender Kids and Their Supportive Parents. We were one of the families. When AJ saw the post,...
Read MoreGLAAD: All Access with Debi Jackson
While in Portland at the Time to Thrive Conference, I ran across the staff from GLAAD. They have a video series called “GLAAD: All Access” which features interviews with newsmakers, hit-makers, and people making a difference. For some reason, they think I fit that bill! So I sat down with them for a few minutes to talk about when I first noticed my four-year-old wanted to identify as a girl, how my husband and I educated ourselves about the word “transgender,” and offered some advice for other parents of transgender children.
Read More2015 Time To Thrive Speech by Debi Jackson
I was asked to speak at this year’s Time to Thrive Conference, hosted by HRC in Portland, Oregon. Time to Thrive is an event focused on educating professionals who work with LGBT youth about their unique issues, struggles, and needs. I was introduced by another amazing PFLAG mom, Betty DeGeneres! My speech this year told more of our daughter’s story, a painful part of the journey that I don’t often talk about. I felt it was important, though, for people working with at-risk youth to really understand what those risks can be. And I also challenged parents to be more accepting of their LGBT kids and to really advocate for them. HRC has resources that can...
Read MoreInterview: Kansas City’s CAMP Magazine
I was honored by being interviewed in Kansas City’s LGBT magazine, Camp, and was absolutely flabbergasted when they said they wanted me to be on the cover as well. The interview is called “The Camp 10” and is ten questions long. Here are the first two: 1. Like many of our readers, I first learned of you from the powerful video recorded of you speaking about your transgender daughter in May 2014 at the Listen to Your Mother live reading show at Kansas City’s Unity Temple on the Plaza (Listen to Your Mother). How have things changed in your life since that video went viral?A better question is almost what hasn’t changed. Before, I had a very small group...
Read MoreDebi Jackson Will Be Featured at HRC’s National Time to THRIVE Conference
Time to THRIVE is a national conference for youth-serving professionals hosted by the Human Rights Campaign. Attendees include K-12 educators, mental health providers, pediatricians, religious leaders, recreational athletic coaches, and youth development staff (Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs, scout leaders, etc.), working together to support the LGBTQ youth population. Time to THRIVE’s goal is to build awareness and cultural competency, learn current and emerging best practices, and gather resources from leading experts and national organizations in the field. I am thrilled to announce that I will be a speaker at this year’s conference in Portland, Oregon, in...
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