Meeting the need... Serving the future
TransActive is an internationally recognized non-profit focused on serving the diverse needs of transgender (TG) and gender nonconforming (GNC) children, youth, their families and allies.
What we do...
Our award-winning staff specializes in delivering experienced,
professional, compassionate and affirming counseling and case
management services to children, youth and families.
Following guidelines established by the World Professional
Association
for Transgender Health (WPATH) and our own
Running the Race
Standard of Care, TransActive leads
the way through close collaboration
with pediatric endocrinologists and family care physicians.
Working with social service agencies, TransActive has become an
established provider of care to transgender,
gender
nonconforming and genderqueer youth.
TransActive offers academic, professional and
community gender identity focused training and educational services
through our STAR Training
program.
Training and education may be associated with a specific
family request or initiated by an organization, agency or community
group as part of diversity or core competency training.
Our Speakers Bureau can also provide award-winning, knowledgeable
and entertaining presenters for conferences, luncheons, public
events, professional seminars and more.
What parents have to say...
Cisgender, Gender Nonconforming or Transgender?
While everyone's assigned birth sex (male
or female) is designated by others based
primarily on the external appearance of our anatomy1, our gender
identity is solely based upon an internal and individual sense of ourselves as
male,
female,
androgynous,
non-gender or a unique blend of
all the above.
For most people, their assigned birth sex (more or less) matches how they experience their internal gender identity. This is known as being cisgender (CG).
Many cisgender people do not conform to the
social or cultural stereotypes that are expected of them. This can range
from the kind or color of clothes someone wears, to the way they speak or words they use when they speak or the
way they move or gesture. It can also be reflected in gender
non-stereotypical career choices.
All of these variations are examples
of
gender nonconformity (GNC).
10% of children are singled out due to gender nonconformity2
Transgender ('trans' or TG for short) is a widely used 'umbrella' term describing children and youth who do not relate to, experience or express their gender identity in a way that corresponds either to social or cultural gender stereotypes, their physical anatomy or assigned birth sex.
Could your child be transgender?
The short answer is, yes. Transgender identity (or the cultural
equivalent3) occurs in children of every nationality,
religion, ethnicity and economic status in every corner of the world.
Being transgender is as natural as being cisgender... just more rare.
1% of all children may be transgender4
While there is a great deal of misinformation and myths surrounding the lives and experiences of trans people, the truth is that in most ways they are just like everyone else... even if they are kids. And they need the same things all children need, unconditional love and affirmation for who they are.
We hope you find information that may be helpful to you here. Look around and let us know if there are ways in which we can assist you or your child.
You're not alone.
1. Some children are born with genitalia that is
not obviously male or female. They may be what is known as
'intersex'. For more information on this, visit the
Intersex Society
of North America.
2. “Childhood Gender Nonconformity: A Risk
Indicator for Childhood Abuse and Posttraumatic Stress in Youth,”
Andrea L. Roberts, Margaret Rosario, Healther L. Corliss, Karestan
C. Koenen, S. Bryn Austin. Pediatrics, doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-1804,
online February 20, 2012.
3. Two-Spirit (Native American),
Kathoey (Thailand),
Fa'Fa' Fine
(Samoa), etc.
4.
San Francisco Unified School District School Climate Study (2008)
