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New HRC guide on trans children by pediatricians busts myths, offers support

New HRC guide on trans children by pediatricians busts myths, offers support
Photo: GLAAD
The Human Rights Campaign took the wraps off a comprehensive new resource for the parents, allies and doctors of transgender children early Thursday: a support guide that provides concrete and easy to understand explanations of gender identity, fluidity, exploration and how it differs from sexual orientation.

It also dispels the inaccurate and outdated misinformation spread by anti-transgender religious conservatives which made headlines earlier this year.

Those lies, that being transgender is a mental illness, that they’ll outgrow it, and more, added to the stress already facing families of trans kids.

“For the parents of transgender youth, the information they seek in the hours and days after their child comes out can make all the difference in the health and wellbeing of that young person,” Jeanette Jennings, mother of TLC reality star and author Jazz Jennings, told LGBTQNation in an emailed statement.

“Although it wasn’t always easy, we’ve been fortunate to see our daughter Jazz grow into a strong, confident, and happy young woman. So much of her successful transition is the result of the information and support we were able to access early in her journey; and with unconditional love our daughter is thriving.”

Jazz Jennings, left, and her mother Jeanette
Jazz Jennings, left, and her mother Jeanette AP Photo

Jennings, whose daughter turns sweet 16 next month, consented to having a brief summary of her daughter’s story open the guide. She was one of the parents involved in reviewing this resource published by HRC, as was Trans Youth Advocate Debi Jackson, who expressed her exasperation over the misinformation that’s been bandied about, in a phone interview with LGBTQNation Wednesday evening.

“It’s frustrating that such a tiny fringe group can have an air of legitimacy simply by choosing a name that sounds authoritative and similar enough… that it confuses people,” Jackson said. She called this new publication “a great starting point because it helps refute many of the standard concerns we hear with cited references.”

But before LGBTQNation introduces you to that guide, it’s important to understand who is who in this ideological war that both sides claim is harming children.

Remember this name: The American College of Pediatricians or ACP is classified as an extremist hate group by the respected Southern Poverty Law Center. It relied on distorted findings to conclude supporting trans children in their transitions caused them harm, as reported in ThinkProgress.

So, if the ACP group is the one to watch out for, who do HRC and parents of trans children rely upon? It is the one with “academy” in its name: the American Academy of Pediatrics, or AAP, Founded in 1930, the AAP boasts 66,000 members and has the largest pediatric publishing program in the world.

Their pediatricians worked with the LGBTQ civil rights group and another highly-respected medical organization dedicated to the care of children, the American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians, or ACOP. Admittedly, all the alphabet soup of acronyms can be confusing,

With the assistance of experts from those two associations, HRC culled the latest research, spoke with members and parents of transgender children and took a critical look at the disinformation campaign by forces that support the dangerous and in some states illegal practice of conversion or “reparative” therapy aimed at “curing” trans kids. The result is the resource now online and available for sharing, at a time in which the rights of individuals who are trans and gender non-conforming are under attack.

“While our country continues our national conversation around transgender equality, we must never forget that at the center of this dialogue are real children fighting to be seen, valued, and respected,” said Mary Beth Maxwell, HRC’s Senior Vice President for Programs, Research, and Trainings, in a statement emailed to LGBTQ Nation. “This new guide provides parents and clinicians alike with vital information in their ongoing pursuit of doing right by all young people.  Our partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians reinforces the overwhelming medical consensus that respecting and affirming transgender young people is not only necessary, but also potentially lifesaving.”

“We know more than ever before about what transgender children need to grow up safe and healthy, and a large part of that is being accepted, nurtured and supported in their gender identity by their family, physicians and community,” said Karen Remley, MD, the executive director and CEO of the AAP. “We hope this new guide will become a useful tool for anyone who has a transgender child in their life.”

Avery
Avery Fusion

Jackson, who is the mother of a transgender girl named Avery, told LGBTQNation this project has been in the works for two years, and comes at a crucial time in the national debate. As an advocate, she’s heard horror stories from other parents that center around that earlier erroneous report by the so-called American College of Pediatricians. “Some parents have even reported their own pediatricians pulling out the ACP report during routine appointments,” she said.  “It gave anti-LGBT folks and sometimes even cautiously-supportive people a reason to question parents who have been affirming their children’s gender identity.”

And given that some children do not express a clear gender identity, the pressure on both parents and caregivers to “get it right” and offer the best possible care for their children is enormous. That’s why pediatricians put tremendous effort in detailing their best advice in this HRC guide.

“The ACOP is excited to be a part of this guide providing pediatricians, other primary care physicians, allied health staffs, patients, families and caretakers with this vital information for transgender youth.  We suggest all efforts ensuring transgender young people be respected and valued,” said Carl R. Backes, DO and President of the ACOP.

One problem that remains, according to Jackson, whose family lives on the Kansas/Missouri state line, is getting the word out.

“As helpful as a publication is, it won’t make it into the hands of every pediatrician. I spoke with the education team in the AAP a couple of weeks ago to start brainstorming ideas of how to get training in front of their members. A lot of pediatricians think that trans youth are so rare, they may never have any as patients and don’t need to learn about caring for them. Others may have personal biases against the LGBT community. One simple first step would be to advise all pediatricians to have conversations about gender non-conformity with every parent, the same as they have discussions about vaccines and guns in the home, so that we can move past parents shaming kids who act outside of gender stereotypes. Letting kids have time to explore, play, and figure out their place on the gender spectrum without interference would make it much easier to separate gender non-conformity from kids who would benefit from a social transition.”

Click here to read the Supporting Caring for Trans Children resource from HRC.

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