I Am Jazz: A Family in Transition [trans youth]

Jazz, an 11-yr-old transgirl, has made many national television appearances on shows ranging from Oprah to 20/20 to Good Morning America and has quickly become one of the strongest voices of trans youth today.

She is an incredibly intelligent, poised, and confident girl and has wonderfully supportive parents and siblings. She wants to "pay it forward" with all the love and support she has received from her family by helping raise money for medical grants for trans youth through the foundation she helped start with her parents (her father is an attorney), TransKids: Purple Rainbow Foundation.

Jazz and her family were recently profiled in the OWN documentary I Am Jazz: A Family in Transition.

 

Jazz was recently honored at the Trevor Live Gala, where she gave a touching acceptance speech.  

She was also recently named in the Advocate's Forty Under 40, making her the youngest person ever to receive such an honor.

For more information and resources for trans youth, click here.

FTM: Coming Out to Parents II [family]

In my last post I shared a video from Jimmy, an awesome dad of an FTM son. In this video, he along with his son Peter offer advice for transpeople coming out to their parents.

In the following video, Kyp shares his experience with coming out to his family.

FTM: Coming Out to Parents [family]

Coming out to family - especially parents, can be one of the most difficult challenges one faces when they transition. In addition to the physical and social torment our bodies cause us, thoughts plague us for years about whether our families will understand or disown us, and ultimately, accept us.

Even though coming out to your parents can be a really difficult thing to do, keep in mind in the end they are your parents and love you and want the best for you. Not all parents will have the terrible reaction we all expect, though - Jimmy is one of those parents.

In the following video Jimmy interviews his FTM son Peter about what it is like being transgender. Jimmy is a remarkable man and the kind of dad anyone would be lucky to have. Most can only hope to have parents that are this understanding and educated about gender and identity.



In this next video, the tables are turned and Forest talks openly with his parents about being transgender. He speaks with them about his past, how he never really fit in, and how they feel about him being trans.



I came out to my parents in a series of letters and through many talks throughout the years. I have always been a fan of the written word and have found writing a good medium in which to express my thoughts; the other party has time to process the contents on their own time and how they feel comfortable without the tension of having to take it all in at once or fearing my reaction which could lead to a verbal altercation and misunderstanding.

If anyone is curious on what to say to your parents in a coming out letter, I have published two of the letters I wrote to my parents in the beginning of my transition in my Charlie Begins blog here and here.

Family, Weddings, and Other Awkward Social Situations.

In this video Charlie (aka localterror on the tube) recounts a story of going to a wedding recently and the awkward situations that entails. I'm sure we can all have a similar "awkward social experience" we can relate to.

Emotions Before Top Surgery.

Tristan Skye (aka TristanSkye79 on the tube) just had his top surgery with Dr. Charles Garramone in Sunrise, FL. He made an awesome video documenting his experience and his emotions leading up to surgery, and examines his wife's feelings as well (after all, everybody in our lives transition, not just us!).

Tristan ended up being less nervous about the surgery than his wife Sicily was, probably because she was so busy getting everything in order and making sure it all went smoothly for him. Hat's off to awesome SOFFA's everywhere! Thanks for all you do.

Tristan and Sicily also run an awesome transgender social networking site called TQNation. Definitely check it out and create a profile.



Here is a video log I recorded on the day of my top surgery, December 12, 2006. As you can see, emotions were high that day.

I can't believe it will be four years in December since I've had the surgery. My life has changed in so many ways, more than I ever expected. Surgery has given me the freedom from the body I was trapped in my entire life. Thank you, Dr. Fischer!

new & noteworthy