TransYouth Family Allies

WPATH Takes strong stand!

July 18th, 2008

Dear Friends and Families,

TYFA board member Jamison Green serves as the Chairperson for the WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) Board Committee on Public Policy, Advocacy & Liason. Today he shared with us a very important statement just issued by WPATH which lays a strong foundation for removing exclusions for medically necessary health care treatment and insurance coverage for transgender children and adults.

WPATH has stated that all aspects of treatment including, but not limited to: hysterectomy, chest reconstruction, mastectomy, facial feminization, hair removal, etc. are medically necessary and appropriate and are NOT cosmetic, elective, nor optional.

They further urge health insurance carriers and health care providers “…to eliminate transgender or trans-sex exclusions and to provide coverage for transgender patients and the medically prescribed sex reassignment services necessary for their treatment and wellbeing…” Click here for the entire statement.

TransYouth Family Allies is proud to bring you this information and we look forward to seeing the changes in store as a result of this much needed stand by WPATH. Special thanks to Jamison Green for his hard work and to those on the WPATH Board who brought about this important statement/policy.

Namaste,

Kim Pearson
Executive Director

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TYFA Intake Survey

May 8th, 2008

Calling all parents, grandparents and caregivers of gender variant and transgender children (under 18)–we need your participation!компютри??????

TYFA is sponsoring an online survey to gather statistical information about our children and families. Your participation is confidential and anonymous. You may answer as many or as few questions you are comfortable with.The intention of the survey is to gather data from parents, grandparents or primary caregivers of gender variant and transgender children under the age of 18. This would include children who identify as transgender, both genders, a third gender or neither gender. We hope to include a broad section of children with gender expression that is perceived as ‘different’ from their assigned birth sex.

From this survey we hope to gather information regarding the prevalence of families dealing with gender expression difference, the age of onset, if any type of social or medical transition has been undertaken, etc.

One of the obstacles TYFA often faces in our educational workshops is the lack of statistics to support the work we are doing. The data gathered will enable us to publish more current and accurate information about our children and families as well as support our requests for more formal/comprehensive studies.

You can find the link to the survey in the menu on the right hand side of this page. Please forward the survey link to families with gender ‘different’ children, organizations, counselors, medical practitioners, social service personnel or anyone who may come in contact with these children/families. The broader the response the more useful the data gathered will be.

Thank you so much for sharing this important project with others. We hope to publish the results in early 2009.

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Lawrence King, Who’s to Blame?

March 25th, 2008

Dear allies and ally organizations,

This week’s issue of the Advocate leads with a cover story about Lawrence King and asks who is to blame for his death. Please read the article and join us in our effort to refocus this conversation on the important work we are all doing to change the climate for GLBT kids in their schools and communities.

If you would like to be a published signatory of the following letter send an email to info@imatyfa.org and include your name or your organization’s name along with your city and state as you would like it to appear on the letter. The letter will be updated on our website several times a day with the new signatures. On Monday morning, March 31st, we will send the completed letter to the Advocate with a request that they take the time to feature the good works of our organizations rather than writing articles which imply that perhaps our GLBT youth are safer in the closet.

Respectfully,

TransYouth Family Allies Board of Directors
Kim Pearson, Shannon Garcia, Amy G., “Just Evelyn”, Bruce Parker, Jamison Green, and Andrea James

To the Advocate:

We, the undersigned organizations, wish to respond to the article “Mixed Messages” by Neal Broverman in the April 8, 2008 issue of The Advocate. The front cover of the magazine asks: “Who’s to blame? We told Lawrence King he had the right to express his sexuality. Did we send him to his death?”

We feel the article discusses an important topic in an unnecessarily provocative way. The undercurrent of blame in the line of questioning posed to activists and administrators is unproductive and seems to be a cynical ploy to increase Advocate readership and revenue.

It’s unfair in the wake of this murder to ask those people working to make schools safer to second-guess their work. While incidents like this remind us of the climate that leads to violence against LGBT youth, that climate is where the blame lies.

Thoreau wrote, “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” Rather than pointing fingers and using inflammatory language, we wish to bring focus back to the root of this problem.

As groups united in the struggle to make schools safe for all youth regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, we say there is no “mixed message” here:

- The blame does not lie with Lawrence King.
- The blame does not lie with those working to make schools safer.
- Allowing intimidation and violence to force youth to suppress their sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression will only prolong the struggle to end that violence.

Other youth will be taunted, harassed, intimidated, beaten, and even killed before this struggle ends. None of them will be to blame, either. Those who tell them it’s OK to be gay, and those who advocate for LGBT youth are not to blame. Rather than finding fault with them, we hope this incident will motivate everyone to work with us to change the climate in schools.

Our unified message: this climate of fear must stop, so all youth learn to respect diversity rather than fear and hate it. Those who wish to join us in this struggle can learn how to help by contacting any of the organizations below.

TransYouth Family Allies

National Center for Lesbian Rights

Transgender Law Center

PFLAG Transgender Network

Triangle Foundation

INTRAA (Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance)

Fight OUT Loud

Dr. Kelley Winters, Keystone, CO

Seacoast Outright, Portsmouth, NH

Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA)

Ann Lorraine Jones, Tucson, AZ

The Liberal Catholic Church International, Diocese of Arizona

FTM International San Francisco, CA

FTMI San Buenaventura Reed Erickson Chapter San
Buenaventura, CA

Rabbi Levi Alter

COLAGE, San Francisco, CA

Gay-Straight Alliance Network, San Francisco, CA

Rev. Dr. Julie Nemecek, MI

Reid Vanderburgh, LMFT
Portland, Oregon

The Naming Project, Minneapolis, MN

Mercedes Allen

Terry Rhines, Lakewood, WA

Deborah Jordan, Tacoma, WA

Donna Ellis, Chandler, AZ

Al Ellis, Chandler, AZ

Legal Services for Children, San Francisco, CA

Gunner Scott, Director, Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition

GenderQueer Revolution

Rev. Alexander Yoo, MA

The Gender Identity Center of Colorado

Kate Bowman, Littleton, CO

The Woodhull Freedom Foundation

Ricci Joy Levy, Washington, D.C.

National Transgender Advocacy Coalition

TransFM Internet Broadcasting Network

Ethan St. Pierre

Laura Shinn, MSW, LCSW

Paula Keiser, Topeka, KS

QSquaredYouth, Inc.

Abigail Jensen, Prescott, AZ

Shawna Scott, Athens, GA

Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition

Arizona Transsexual Alliance

Outreach, Inc., Madison, WI

Madison Area Transgender Association, Madison, WI

Michelle M. Eldridge

Helen Boyd, Brooklyn, NY

Mo Lewis, Tacoma, WA

ABGender.com

TGNow.com

Gemini Gender Group, Milwaukee, WI

Emilie Jackson-Edney

Idaho Equality

Tri-States Transgender

Social Welfare Action Alliance, Ann Arbor Chapter

Chicago Area Endangered Residents

Transgender Advocates of Central Texas

Jean Chapin Smith, MA

Professor Lynn Conway, Ann Arbor, MI

Airen Lydick, Seattle, WA

Stephen Tropiano, Ph.D.

The Network/La Red, Boston, MA

Debra Soshoux, CA

PFLAG, Phoenix Arizona Chapter

PFLAG, Montgomery, AL Chapter

Your Organization Here

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History Making Family Conference

March 22nd, 2008

TYFA is proud to announce our support and participation in the 2008 Philadelphia TransHealth Conference (THC), Family and Youth Programming, Friday, May 30 and Saturday, May 31.

History of the TransHealth Conference Family and Youth Programming:

In 2005, a group of parents from PFLAG Philadelphia got together and created a panel workshop to tell the community about their journey. The response was overwhelming. The following year, parents and family members from around the nation attended.

In 2006, the community met the next generation, the trans-youth, and for the first time, the youth got to meet other kids just like them.

In 2007, THC became the first conference in the nation to offer programming dedicated to teens and youth. Since then, Family Programming and Youth Programming have become separate committees and entire tracks of programming have been created to meet their needs.

This year the conference is rich with offerings of interest to TYFA parents, children, teens and allies. For the TYFA parents (some older kids and teens may enjoy these too) there are many exciting offerings. Communication, Schools, Acceptance, Transition, Hopes and Fears, and Media are just a few of the topics which will be offered for the Family Programming.

So what do you do with the little ones while you are off soaking up the wonderful workshops? The THC Youth Programming Committee has created a wonderful environment for you to safely leave your children while attending workshops. They are going to provide entertainment, arts and crafts and other interactive activities to keep those young minds engaged and encourage interaction. Some of the fun features for the young ones will include: Jack the Balloon Man and Puppet Uprising. The Child Activity Center will be open from 8:30 to 5:00 Friday and Saturday.

How do you keep those older kids (13+) and teens occupied? Take a look at the workshops being offered just for them:
Youth and Teen Activities and Workshop Descriptions

TYFA will also be holding our annual board meeting on Friday, May 30th so you will have the opportunity to meet all of our board members at the conference. These are the folks we expect to be in attendance on Friday so stop by our display table and say hi to the TYFA members who are coming in from all over the country:

Executive Director, Kim Pearson, AZ
President, Shannon Garcia, IN
Secretary/Treasurer, Amy G., MI
Curriculum Development Director,
Bruce Parker, II, LA
Director, Jamison Green, CA
Director, “Just Evelyn”, CO
Director, Andrea James, CA
Advisor, Moonhawk River Stone, NY
Advisor, Dr. Kelley Winters, CO
Family Ally, Lisa C. Gilinger, CA
Family Ally, Jenna Meyer, NJ
Family Ally, Zander Keig, CA
Youth Ally, Shawn-Dedric Pearson, AZ

We hope you will all be able to join us for what we feel is the most family centered, feature rich conference for our TYFA kids and families that has ever been offered anywhere in the country. The participation of professionals from such organizations as the Mazzoni Center, TransYouth Family Allies (TYFA), Moonhawk River Stone (MS-LMHC), Mountain Meadow, TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation, YES Institute and others who are changing the world for gender variant and transgender children will mark the 2008 Philadelphia TransHealth Conference as a one of a kind history making event that you will not want to miss.

All the TYFA volunteers hope you are having a relaxing Spring Break and we look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia.

Namaste,

Kim Pearson
Executive Director
TransYouth Family Allies
kimp@imatyfa.org

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New name, look, mission, vision and materials!

February 22nd, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 20, 2008

TransYouth Family Allies (TYFA) unveils new name, look, mission, vision and materials

PHOENIX, AZ– TransYouth Family Allies (formerly TransYouth Family Advocates/TYFA) announced the first phase of its new communications project today with the unveiling of a new logo and publication of updated mission and vision statements. These will be incorporated into newly developed programs and materials.

TYFA Executive Director Kim Pearson said, “Our new programs and materials were developed in consultation with gender identity and curriculum development specialists to ensure that our content is accurate, professional and of the highest quality. As we learn and grow, our programs continue to evolve. This evolution has positioned TYFA as a force for change that none of us could have imagined even six short months ago.”

TYFA President Shannon Garcia added, “TYFA’s position is that the needs of gender variant and transgender children are best served by a team consisting of the parents, the children themselves, health care providers who are understanding, knowledgeable and supportive, and adult transgender mentors. We rely on our well-respected transgender board members and advisors Jamison Green, Andrea James, Moonhawk River Stone, Reid Vanderburgh, Dr. Julie Nemecek, and Dr. Kelley Winters, for their historical perspective, experience and guidance on matters of policy and practice related to transgender issues. Still, the true direction of TYFA will always be defined by the children and families we serve.”

TYFA has examined all aspects of their organization, including the name itself. Going forward the A in TYFA will stand for “Allies.” The term “ally” expands TYFA’s advocacy role to include all relationships formed among children, families, schools, service providers and communities that allow trans and gender variant children to be happy and successful.

The TYFA logo redesign was developed from a concept by transgender teenager Shawn-Dedric Pearson. Mr. Pearson envisioned three triangles symbolizing youth who identify as masculine (blue), as feminine (pink) and as gender-variant (amethyst). The three triangles overlap with each other to form a vivid amethyst triangle in the center. Amethyst is a traditional color used to symbolize transgender people, and it echoes TYFA’s Amethyst Ribbon Campaign to raise awareness about suicide prevention among gender-variant youth.

The smaller “Y” in the new TYFA logotype evokes the form of a youth and is set in TYFA amethyst, highlighting the young people who are the focus of TYFA’s mission. The stylized youth is holding hands between the trans “T” and the family “F,” forming a link between groups working hand-in-hand to help trans youth, the trans community and the families and allies who support trans children.

Board member Evelyn Lindenmuth added, “TYFA envisions communities free of suicide and violence in which all children are espected and celebrated. We encourage everyone to work together for the greater good. Our gender variant and transgender children are depending on us all to provide new understanding. Difference isn’t wrong, it just is.”

TransYouth Family Allies (TYFA) is a national nonprofit that empowers children and families by partnering with educators, service providers and communities to develop supportive environments in which gender may be expressed and respected.

Kim Pearson, Executive Director
kimp@imatyfa.org
1-888-462-8932 (888-IMA-TYFA)

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