Posts Tagged "transition"
Trans-Parenting Podcast Episode 2: Telling Our Story
https://traffic.libsyn.com/transparenting/TransParenting_Podcast_E2.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download | EmbedSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSSI’ve been sick, so I apologize for my voice! In Episode 2 of the Trans-Parenting Podcast, I tell our family’s story of discovering our child, Avery Jackson, is transgender. Avery’s transition was really a transformation. She became the happiest, most loving child imaginable once she started living as a girl. Not all trans people are ok seeing photos of themselves pre-transition. Avery doesn’t mind hers. She likes to remember waaaaaay back when we were “too dumb” to know...
Read MoreTrans-Parenting Podcast Episode 1: Gender Terminology 101
https://traffic.libsyn.com/transparenting/TransParenting_Podcast__Episode_1.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download | EmbedSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSSWelcome to the very first episode of the new Trans-Parenting Podcast. On the first episode, we cover a lot of the gender definitions that we will be using in future episodes. It’s Trans Terminology 101! The Show Notes are here as a helpful quick-glance guide. I cover much more about each item in the show. Be sure to listen. Episode 1 Show Notes: Biological or Anatomical Sex. This is the physical structure of one’s reproductive organs that is used to assign sex at birth. Biological sex...
Read MoreSharing Our Story at Trevor Project
My family was invited to attend the TrevorLive Gala in New York City in June. I met David Bond of the Trevor Project earlier in the spring at HRC’s Time To Thrive conference where he heard me mention Avery trying to jump out of our car when she was four years old. He asked if I could also speak at TrevorLive to let their supporters hear how trans kids can be suicidal at an extremely young age because of their dysphoria and a lack of acceptance. I hope that our story made enough of an impact on people in the audience that they made larger donations than planned to support children like ours. Here is my speech from that evening: My name is Debi Jackson. My...
Read MoreParents Speak: Having a Trans Child Is Great Because…
Raising a gender non-conforming or transgender child can come with a lot of struggles and heartache. Parents can lose unaccepting friends and family. Kids can lose their playmates. Churches can reject lifelong members. Parenting skills can be questioned and sometimes Child Protective Services can get called on for an investigation. Marriages can crumble under the strain. Panic attacks and nightmares about a child’s safety can emerge. Grief over losing the child and a future that has already been idealized can lead to depression. Sounds really heavy, right? Sounds like there couldn’t be anything really good that comes from a child expressing the need to...
Read MoreA Frustrating Thanksgiving
I debated writing this post for a couple of days because of the personal nature, but the continued lack of understanding of transgender issues just isn’t acceptable. On Thanksgiving, AJ said she was thankful for having such a loving family and she said she was happy. But later the same day, she went to a negative, dark place. She said she wasn’t happy and was frustrated. She said she is frustrated and sad because she is transgender. She said she already lost her first best friend because she transitioned, and his mom wasn’t accepting. She said she’s constantly worried that people will find out she’s trans and will reject her for it. At...
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