2016 Gender Spectrum Conference

In what contexts should a child’s gender status be revealed? What are the trade-offs between open acknowledgment and “going stealth” about your child’s gender identity? We face numerous situations where we are called upon to advocate for our children and must decide whether disclosing information will create more safety and inclusion or more difficulties. In this workshop, we will create an open and supportive setting for parents to share with each other about issues of disclosure and non-disclosure in a variety of settings. This is Phyllis’ sixth year running this workshop, and each year brings something new. This year will be more of an open forum, with less didactic information, although handouts to help families navigate decisions about whether to remain private or become more public will be given out. Both new and returning families are welcome to come and share your experiences.

How we view our own gender and those of our loved ones is influenced by all aspects of our identity including our family histories, race, religion, ethnicity, and the communities with which we identify. Panelists in this workshop will discuss how their multi-faceted identities relate to their experience of gender. They will share where they found support and opportunities for growth as well as how they navigated resistance and roadblocks. Participants will have an opportunity to reflect on their own identities and engage in a dialogue with panelists and other attendees.

The media's interest in covering transgender people and issues has increased dramatically, and we know that stories about transgender children and youth have the power to help families just learning that their child is transgender. They also play an important role in shaping how the general public perceives gender-expansive experiences. But how do you know if telling your story in the media is the right thing for your family and your child? What are the consequences of talking about your child's gender in the media when a Google search can disclose their trans identity for the rest of their life? Why is it different for transgender people to be out in the media, compared to LGB people? This session will explore the various questions parents need to consider and possible consequences they must weigh as they make decisions about sharing their child's gender story publicly. 

My child will not talk about anything transgender. She just wants to be a girl.” Integrating transgender experience into core self is an important element of development for transgender youth, and can be incredibly difficult when transgender identities are not celebrated in their social environments. This integration seems to be more challenging for those who are transitioning early in life. This workshop will present strategies for helping youth to include their transgender selves into their identities. Case examples will be presented for assistance in illuminating the pros and cons of the “just a girl, just a boy” phenomenon. We will discuss the importance of parent/caregiver language that celebrates transgender, and encourages youth to embrace this part of their experience.

GLAAD's Nick Adams will share tips for talking about transgender people and issues in the media. Whether you are a professional, a parent, or a trans person, you can effectively use the media to educate the 84% of Americans who say they don't know a transgender person in their personal life. Learn about targeting your audience, setting your boundaries, messaging techniques, and effective interview skills.

Participants will engage in creating a Family Gender Story. Ideas, Narrative and Actual making of art/books will be utilized, yet, the workshop is meant to generate the expansion to working on this with children/youth at home. Participants will learn how to craft a gender story and then how to incorporate their childs expression and experience into the activity. Issues of "how to talk with family, friends, institutions" around "family gender story" will also be addressed. Gender Affirmative and Family Acceptance practices will root the discussion/dydactic portions.

The gender binary is limiting in both describing the experience of gender, but also in the development of medical and mental health care protocols. This workshop will primarily be a discussion of the approach to caring for non-binary identified youth in the mental and medical health care domains. Led by three experienced clinicians, Johanna Olson-Kennedy, MD; Susan Landon, LMFT and Aydin Olson-Kennedy ACSW, MSW, we will explore the challenges of development, societal integration, language, privilege, and medical decision making for non-binary youth.

Learn about the benefits of sharing your experiences with others. Create community and connections by writing about specific moments along your journey with a transgender or gender non-conforming child. Education, advocacy and awareness are positive by-products of blogging. Understand the emotional effects on others who discover, through your writing, that they are not alone. Three vocal “Ally Moms” of trans* children will share their experiences and teach participants how to start their own blog. Because of one woman’s willingness to open up and be very public about her family’s journey a group called Ally Moms was formed. Each of the presenters is an active voice within Ally Moms that has international reach. 

This discussion-oriented workshop features two films as a platform for a conversation about parents’ hopes for their child's gender journey, and what happens when that path goes in unexpected directions. Pink Boy is film that introduces us to Jeffrey, who loves to dance in gowns and perform for his parents. As six-year-old Jeffrey increasingly wishes to dress up in public, and his parents must navigate where it is safe for him, from school to a rodeo in Georgia. In Becoming Johanna, we meet a 16 year-old transgender girl whose mom thinks she’s confused, or joking, and prays that her child won’t change. But Johanna refuses to let her mother’s rejection define her life and she continues the journey toward becoming comfortable in her own skin. After watching the films, participants will explore what happens when a parent's ideas for their child’s gender journey and the child’s own path go in different directions, and how a parent and child can still have a common destination, namely a loving and positive relationship.

Hands on activities to understand how gender is a social construction and how can we recognize, re-think and re- structure what is appropriate for our family. This workshop is based in the real experience of a mother walking true the journey to understand the tears of her child./Taller basado en actividades para comprender como el concepto de genero esta construido por la sociedad y como podemos reconocer, re-pensar y re-estructurar lo que es mas apropiado para nuestra familia. Este taller esta basado en la experiencia real de una madre en su camino por entender las lagrimas de su hija

Historically youth have been taught that people assigned female at birth always grow up to be women and people assigned male at birth always grow up to be men. We now know this is not always true. This workshop will offer a close look into the experiences of three non-binary young adults. These individuals will share information about their unique pathways to adulthood beyond the binary, navigating identity, social transitions, intimate relationships, family dynamics, medical interventions, and/or surgery. Rather than asserting their stories as representing "the non-binary experience," their stories serve to illustrate the incredible diversity of non-binary identities and the journeys towards them.