What time do you meet? How do I attend a meeting?

 

We usually meet the 3rd Sunday of every month. If you’re interested in attending, please get in touch with us.

 

Meetings are held both in person and online, for those who cannot attend in person. Contact us to be screened for access.

 

I’m a trans youth. Can you contact my parents and encourage them to join your organization?

 

Unfortunately no. While we are happy to help trans youth as much as we can, ultimately we can’t force someone to attend for both practical and safety reasons. We would encourage you to share our resources and information with your parent or caregiver if you think it would help them, and emphasize that we welcome all parents at different stages and with different amounts of previous knowledge and understanding as long as they are willing to be respectful and open.

 

I’m trans. Can I attend a meeting?

 

Unfortunately we don’t offer a group for trans youth; please see some of our resources pages for other options for support. We do, however, welcome all parents and caregivers of trans children regardless of gender identity.

 

Where can I find more information as a trans person or parent?

 

See our resources page.

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Aren’t kids too young to know they’re trans? What if they do permanent damage by transitioning?

 

Trans people can realize they’re trans at almost any age. We’ve helped parents of kids ages 3 to 30 and many points in between.

 

With younger children, social transition may be all that’s needed. This might involve family and school using a different name and pronouns and respecting and supporting your child’s clothing choices. For older trans kids, puberty blockers give the opportunity for them to explore themselves and their gender without the added pressure that puberty can bring. For older youth and young adults, hormones may be prescribed in consultation with family doctors, psychiatrists and/or psychologists, social workers, and pediatric endocrinologists. They may be able to access this care without the consent of a parent depending on age and circumstances.

 

What’s the difference between gender and sex? Are there more than two genders?

 

Gender refers to one’s internal identity as a man or woman or both or neither. It can be related to the name you go by, the pronouns you use, and how you dress, but not always. Sex refers to variations in physical biological attributes, such as what chromosomes, genitalia, and other characteristics you have. It may or may not be linked to your gender.

 

Neither sex nor gender are binary, i.e. there are more than two sexes and more than two genders. People whose sex is neither male nor female often use the label “intersex”. People whose gender is neither male nor female often (but not always) use the label “non-binary”, an umbrella term that includes many other identities. Another common term is “Two-Spirit”, used by some Indigenous people as an umbrella term for identities that are neither male nor female and which have long histories in many groups’ cultures.

 

Your organization is promoting child abuse.

 

The best available evidence is that children can and do know when their gender identity does or doesn’t match their expression and/or assigned sex. Supporting a trans child through their discovery of gender is no more abusive than supporting a cisgender child (i.e. a child whose gender matches that assigned at birth) being cis, and similarly insisting on denying their identity is just as abusive for a trans child as for a cis child. Further, family and caregivers being supportive has been shown as one of the biggest factors in promoting trans youths’ mental health.