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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2010)
O R E G O N S G A Y/LESB IA N /B I/TR A N S N EW SM A G A ZIN E__________________________ _______________________________________________________ JANUARY 8 2C A ProQotive Process TransAotive's executive director on the “youngest members of the GLBT community" every Oprah Winfrey show casting a positive spotlight on individual journeys, there’s an episode o f Dr. Phil giving credence to the expertise o f a “reparative therapist” like Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, founder o f the National A s sociation for Research &c Therapy o f Homo sexuality (N A R TH ). For every milestone like the appointment o f senior technical advisor for the Department of Commerce Amanda Simpson, there’s a thoughtless crack by a comedian (th t Late Show with D avid Letterman broadcast the same day news broke o f Simpson’s appointment). Education is the mission o f Pordand nonprofit TransActive, and founder and Executive Director Jenn Burleton. Since 2006, Burleton—who herself transitioned as a teenager— and her team have provided necessary support to improve the quality of life o f transgender and gender non-conform ing children, youth and their families through various services, advocacy and research. And though TransActive is not associated with Oliver’s transition, the organization is at present working with 15 families in the Pordand Metro area alone— what Burleton ByAM AN D A SCH U R R Oliver’s story may seem like a rare one, but statistics on transgenderism and gender non-conforming identity in youth suggest otherwise. A 2007 University o f Michigan study by Professors Femke Olyslager and Lynn Conway reports that 1 in 250 children is significandy gender non-conforming, and additional statistical analysis by Conway in dicates that 1 in 500 is transgender. This is nearly 100 times the number pub lished by the American Psychiatric Associa tion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV. It should be noted that prevalence sta tistics for female-bodied/ male-identified children like Oliver are less well known than male-bodied/female-identified individuals. One o f the reasons for this may be due to the greater leeway and acceptance female-bodied children are given with regards to their gender expression (for example, “tomboy” is not con sidered a put-down). This is not to minimize the credibility o f gender non-conformity and trans identity in younger, female-bodied/ male-identified children. Yet stigma and stereotyping persist, as does the need to educate others in turn on transgenderism and gender non-conform ing identity, for both youth and adults. For i • Drain & refill anti-freeze (up to 1 gal.) • Inspect belts & hoses • • Presure test system & Radiator Cap ! Beaverton NISSAN I I L 3855 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd. Beaverton 5 0 3 .6 4 3 .8 6 7 6 . Nissan/ Infiniti vehicle's only. Cannot be combined with other specials. Not valid on prior sales. 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Offer expires 01-31-2010. — — Beaverton NISSAN Beaverton NISSAN — — ( J • Clean door jams & glass windows , , • Vacuum interior and mats • Exterior wash and wax • steam clean engine • Shampoo carpets • Includes 27 point inspection every time • O.E. quality filter • Refill with fresh oil • Inspect under hood I — COMPLETE DETAIL OIL & FILTER CHANGE t. — — — — — — — — — — — a i. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — a describes as a “proactive” process, versus the “reactive” one facing older transitioning indi viduals. By heading off much o f the cultural, medical, social, and psychological condition ing, Burleton says they can “minimize the damage” wrought by not recognizing and allowing transgender and gender non-con- forming children to express their identity when they are younger. “The whole purpose o f transition is so that individuals can immerse themselves in what they believe is the experience of their true identity and to see if that works,” Burleton explains. “Where this impacts the work that we do with children and youth is that it gets significandy more difficult to transition the later in life you do so because you’ve accumu lated all this baggage from trying to live a life that you were kind o f forced into living.” According to Burleton, the average time line for transitioning youth depends on the support or resistance received from parents and family, upon whom the child relies to fa cilitate the process. “Kids transition as soon as parents will tolerate it,” Burleton says, adding that the vast majority o f children her organi zation has worked with are under the age of ten. “The kid’s preference is to do it as soon as they possible can: ‘Mommy, this is who I am. Can I be this person?’” By the time puberty looms, variables such as bodies not matching with gender identity factor into the transitioning process, as do the repercussions— suicide and drug abuse, among them. More than half o f transgen der children/youth ideate suicide, according to a study by Thomas P. Cody, Ph.D. at the University o f New Hampshire Counseling Center. The percentage is greatly reduced when youth are supported and accepted by their families, as in Oliver’s case. Over the past 30 years o f study, the Amer ican Academy o f Pediatrics and other main stream health organizations have concluded that children have a firmly entrenched sense o f gender identity by the age o f four. “They know who they are by the same age, whether or not or their body matches,” Burleton says. In a cisgender normative culture, it’s this commonly held medical and scientific belief that makes TransActive’s purpose a critical one— for families like Oliver’s and others. “We need more exposure,” Burleton em phasizes, “because we know, looking at the statistics, the number o f families that are out there all think that they are the only ones like this.” J K For more information and resources fo r transgender and gender non-conforming chil dren, youth and their families, visit www. trans- activeonline.org.
