Category Archives: Youth

Issues impacting youth and very young adults.

Talk To Your Children!

A person with different coloured eyes, head wrapped so only their eyes and nose show, with a a rainbow prism across half their face

Photo by Alex Perez on Unsplash

Following on from some recent discussions in outreach and education where I have urged people to talk to their children about gender and sexuality early, and to encourage friends to do the same, here’s a link from Parents magazine with advice about how to do that – specifically about how to explain about being nonbinary, but the tips and information in here are adaptable to any gender identity and can extend to explaining about the fact that some people have two mommies, or two daddies, or two parents, or just one, or three or more.

Kids understand so much more than people tend to give them credit for, and if you talk to your kids early and often about gender and sexuality, you could spare them years of fear and struggle as they try to work out if it is safe to come out to you, and years of not being themselves. From a purely selfish viewpoint, you can save yourself years of guilt at not seeing that your child was struggling and not realising and helping them sooner. Some children have even committed suicide because they were too afraid to come out to their parents, and their parents would have been accepting. Don’t put anyone through that. Talk to your children.

https://www.parents.com/kids/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-gender/

June 2021 Trans Talk on 90.1 FM KKFI


We have another busy show this week that you will not want to miss! We will start with the transgender news of the month as presented by Mistress Nightshade, then continue our series of transgender film reviews with a look at “Kiki,” a 2016 film about the drag and voguing culture in New York City. We will then have a roundtable discussion about Pride and the trans community, the growing numbers of LGBTQIA+ persons in America and what that means for the future, and an essay on lateral violence in the community and an example of how it is so destructive. Finally Fiona will give you the highlights of the community calendar update.

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, June 26th at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

March 2021 Trans Talk on 90.1 FM KKFI

We have another busy show this week that you will not want to miss! We will start with the transgender news of the month as presented by Mistress Nightshade, then talk with Teri Miles, a local transgender woman who was recently elected to the city council of Creighton, Missouri! We are going to talk to her about what it was like running for office out and proud and learn a bit about her life and her journey.

Then we are going to have a summary of what is happening with laws and bills pushing for a purge of transgender youth and adult athletes that has spread like a pandemic of panicked paranoid prejudice across the country.

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, March 27th at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

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KCRep Hosts Free Future Perfect Project Workshop – Oct 21 2018

I received an email with information on an exciting opportunity for LGBTQ+ youth and their allies.  I’m quoting the whole of the email below to give everyone the full information they need to register.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre is proud to host
The Future Perfect Project Workshop
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Noon to 5 pm
In Rehearsal Hall —  Room 119
Olson Performing Arts Center
Located on the UMKC campus
This is a free creative workshop for high school and early college-aged youth.
The workshop team is led by the writer of the film Trevor which won an Academy Award and inspired the founding of the nationally renowned Trevor Project.
To learn more about this terrific opportunity, please visit https://www.thefutureperfectproject.com/
Please RSVP to the contacts below.
 
For many queer youth, finding a safe space is an ordeal.   Even in today’s seemingly progressive world, LGBTQ+ youth are often dismissed, bullied, and cornered into making a life for themselves on the sidelines.  As a young person, you can see into the future.  You can see a world more in-line with the values of your generation, which is perhaps too difficult for older generations to perceive right away.  Thus, we have a gap.   Through autobiographical live performance, and more specifically live music, we are able to express that vision back to our community wholeheartedly and begin to close that gap.  We believe that queer & alternative youth hold the creative keys to closing that gap, and we invite you all to join us in a storytelling & songwriting workshop to learn more ways of expressing your vision out to your community.
The workshop provides young people with prompts and ideas to further your reflection on LGBTQ+ life and on topics you want to address head-on. You will be offered the tools to transform your reflections into creative expression, and ultimately into a collaborative songwriting exercise. The workshop succeeds in creating pathways for self-discovery, not only for each of you, but also within the larger world in which you function.
Join us and  share, support and create.  Share your voices with each other and beyond.
No need to be a performer, although – if you are, that’s great! All input is valued and writing is as powerful as the songs we will create.  Your thoughts and experiences are what will propel us into the heart of the workshop.
Please RSVP KCRep by emailing Melinda at mccrarym@kcrep.org  or Lydia at fuqual@kcrep.org   and we will save a spot for you.

 

An Opportunity to Participate in Research on Transgender Parents

Hello everyone,

A Ph.D candidate in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware contacted us directly, and asked us to help get the word out to folks from age 18-25 to participate in a survey about transgender parents.

Being the daughter of a transgender parent herself, the researcher is looking for folks who:

  • Are between age 18-25.
  • Have a transgender parent who stayed with their partner through transition.
  • And learned about their parent’s transition when they were at least 10 years old.

People who participate in the survey will receive a $10 Amazon gift card for their time.

The flyer is linked below, but in case you have trouble reading the PDF file, the contact information is:

Andrea D. Kelley
Mail: adkelley@udel.edu
Call or Text: 610-350-6844

Note: we at Transas City receive absolutely no compensation nor benefit from publicizing this survey.

Click here to see the recruitment flyer.

March 2018 Trans Talk on KKFI


We have another full house today on Trans Talk. We are going to kick off the program by talking with Cassandra Peters, who is the founder of the Johnson County Q-Space, the only LGBTQ+ youth center in Johnson County, Kansas. Joining Cassandra in the studio today are some of the kids from the Q-Space.

In the second part of the program we have in our studio Marissa Wolf, who is the director of new works and the associate artistic director of Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Ms. Wolf is here on Trans Talk to share the details of an upcoming new play reading titled “CLICK” by Jaqueline Goldfinger, which features a transgender character.

We will have a new take on the transgender news of the month, and finish up the show with the community calendar update. I do hope you will be able to join me this Saturday, March 24th at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

July 2017 Trans Talk on KKFI

Transition_Family
Hello everyone! We have two guests with us today. Rhyan is a new guest to Trans Talk, and he is here to discuss his own transgender journey with us and to talk about his life. Also with us is Julie, the mother of a transgender boy, who was on our program before to discuss their family’s transition along with her son, as well as her battles with the Odessa Missouri school district.

As usual, we will share with you the transgender news and the community calendar update. We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, July 22 at 1:00 pm on 90.1 FM KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org.

Special Alert: Child Protective Services versus Transgender Families?

Warrior mom Debi Jackson at Trans-Parenting has passed along this horrifying series of reports about transgender children being taken from their homes by Child Protective Services (CPS) in various states under the guise of “protecting” them. This is a real fear that parents of transgender children face every day of their lives, and I know parents who have to carry with them an entire packet of documents from physicians, psychologists, and attorneys at all times out of fear that a transphobic person or internet troll will lodge a false complaint of child endangerment against them.

CPS cases are judged under a strange set of legal rules, whereby one is presumed guilty until proven innocent, and there are numerous cases of parents losing their children for years, despite being found innocent of any wrongdoing. If you are a parent or relative of a transgender child, or know someone who is, please read and share this series of reports.

Can the Child Welfare System Handle Transgender Children? (Part 1)

Can the Child Welfare System Handle Transgender Children? (Part 2)

Can the Child Welfare System Handle Transgender Children? (Part 3)

April 2017 Trans Talk on 90.1 KKFI


Hello, and welcome to the April 2017 Trans Talk Edition of The Tenth Voice! We will have three guests with us on this month’s show from the Children’s Mercy Gender Pathways Clinic, who provide a full suite of beneficial services to transgender children in the Kansas City area. Dr. Jill Jacobson, Chaplain Beth Sonneville, and social worker Kathryn Boman will talk to us about all of the services they provide, the challenges they face, and answer questions from parents, family, and allies of transgender children.

As usual, we will share with you the transgender news and the community calendar update. We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, April 22 at 1:00 pm on 90.1 FM KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org.

September 2016 Trans Talk on 90.1 KKFI

carmen3Hello everyone! We begin this month’s Trans Talk edition of the Tenth Voice speaking with Haley Bridges, the Director of TrueGender, which is a new local organization working to tackle the problem of high medical costs for transgender families. Next we will continue our Transgender Kaleidoscope series, speaking with Carmen Xavier, a transgender woman with a wonderful outlook on life and local political aspirations to help the community.

As usual, we will share with you the transgender news and the community calendar update. We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, September 24 at 1:00 pm on 90.1 FM KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org.

North Carolina Enshrines Transgender Toilet Terror Bill Into Law

Torched_Rainbow_Flag
Well, they’ve done it.

In response to the city of Charlotte passing an ordinance protecting LGBT rights, Republicans in the North Carolina legislature have ram-rodded a comprehensive anti-LGBT rights bill through to the governor’s office, where it was signed with incredible speed not shown towards any other legislative measure in that state in recent history. A mere three hours of debate and 20 minutes of public comment were allowed before the bill was passed, and Governor Pat McCrory – who I’ve reported on before due to his many anti-transgender statements regarding children – signed it without any hesitation. Claiming it was to “keep our children safe.”

Why did this happen? One primary, driving issue: Republican lawmakers were horrified that transgender women might be using the same toilet as cisgender women.

That’s it. The economy, crime, jobs, civil rights, the environment – all of these issues paled to the Republicans, compared to the thought that a transgender person might need to pee in a place where they can do so without fear of harassment or assault. While widely advertised as a ban to protect kids in schools, the hateful piece of legislation actually extends to “all public facilities” as defined in the state, with no age range mentioned. Furthermore, the hateful piece of legislation also mandates that your sex is defined solely by what is listed on your birth certificate.

Mercifully, North Carolina is one of few states which will allow transgender persons to change their birth certificates – provided you have surgery. At least until Republicans figure out that we “decepticons,” as one North Carolina Republican lawmaker referred to us, can change our birth certificates. Most likely, they’ll use the same excuse used by New Jersey Republican governor Christie, who claimed he rejected a bill allowing transgender persons to change their gender marker on their birth certificate due to “security concerns.”

You can read the full text of the bill at this link, and information for this article came from this source as well: North Carolina Governor To Sign Anti-LGBT Law Into Effect

December 2nd SOFFA Meeting

hud-proposes-stronger-protections-for-transgender-people-in-emergency-shelters-x750

The Kansas City SOFFA group is having a joint meeting with the UMKC Trans+Allies group.  This month, UMKC is having a round-table discussion with parents of trans children and young adults, and SOFFA members are joining them to participate in the discussion.  While it is a round-table discussion, no one is obligated to speak.  We encourage parents to attend, but you do not need to be a parent, just interested in learning more about this topic.

The meeting is at UMKC Student Union in room 302, 6:00-8:00 pm.  There will be free pizza provided.  Be careful where you park – make sure you clearly display your UMKC parking tags, if you have them, otherwise, metered parking is available in the parking garage to the north of the Student Union. Some street parking is available by the School of Education at 615 E 52nd Street.

UMKCTrans+Allies

Illinois District Violated Transgender Student’s Rights, U.S. Says


The New York Times has printed a very detailed article on a recent major victory for transgender youth. Township High School District 211 in Palatine, Illinois, had refused to allow a transgender girl equal access to school locker and toilet facilities, and a complaint was made by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. In a letter sent Monday, the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education told the district that requiring a transgender student to use private changing and showering facilities was a violation of that student’s rights under Title IX, a federal law that bans sex discrimination. The district has 30 days to reach a solution or face penalties, including potential administrative law proceedings or a Justice Department court action. The district could lose some or all of its Title IX funding.

From the article:

“All students deserve the opportunity to participate equally in school programs and activities — this is a basic civil right,” Catherine Lhamon, the Education Department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Township High School District 211 is not following the law because the district continues to deny a female student the right to use the girls’ locker room.”

Officials in the Palatine district, which serves more than 12,000 students, have framed their position as a middle ground. The transgender student in question plays on a girls’ sports team, is called “she” by school staff and is referred to by a female name. But the district, citing privacy concerns, had required her to change clothes and shower separately.

The district said she was allowed to change inside the girls’ locker room, but only behind a curtain. The student, who has not been publicly identified, has said she would probably use that curtain to change. But she and the federal government have insisted that she be allowed to make that decision voluntarily, and not because of requirements by the district.

As a rebuttal to ignorant parents who claimed that the student was a “boy” who was “gaming the system to see girls naked,” the Times reported that the student “…has identified as a girl from a young age, has changed her name, received a passport as a female and is undergoing hormone therapy…”

Source: Illinois District Violated Transgender Student’s Rights, U.S. Says

Olathe School District’s Transgender Restroom Policy Stirs Controversy – Not

The bathrooms inside a Johnson County high school are sparking some controversy, and it all has to do with which restrooms transgender students can use.

Please note that this is an old event, which has been bumped on social media and sent to me by two separate people, so I thought I would at least address the issue.

The original article from KCTV5, which is linked below, has a headline which implies that there is a major protest action, or some sort of mass resistance to the fact that two transgender students in the Olathe School District are being allowed to use the restroom congruent with their true gender. In reading the article, however, we find that the “controversy” consists of:

“KCTV5 News received an email from someone who said they are a concerned Olathe East High School parent outraged the school never told them anything, and now their student will be in a restroom with the opposite sex.”

A single e-mail. From one person, not identified. Wow, does Obama know about this? The article makes a further error, when it prints:

“The school district is in uncharted territory. They are the first metro school to address what the school paper calls the transgender ‘bathroom issue.’ “

Except of course for the entire KCMO School District, as proven by my interview with Lawrence Altman on last month’s Trans Talk on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio.

Honestly, I’m really uncertain at the level of reporting here, especially given that KCTV5 has a rather good record on transgender reporting, as seen in their reporting on the recent murder of Tamara Dominguez.

Source: District’s change over restrooms for transgender students stirs controversy

Kansas City Transgender Teen Nominated for Homecoming Queen

First I must apologize for linking to a Fox4KC story, as I know many of my audience do not care very much for the station. And I must apologize for being days behind in posting this. My preparation for my month in Asia has taken a lot of my time.

The story is simple, but also highly important. Landon Patterson, a Senior at Oak Park High School in North Kansas City, came out on YouTube to reveal to the world that she was transgender. Not only wasn’t she expecting the show of support from her friends, who rallied behind her, but she certainly wasn’t expecting to be nominated as homecoming queen for the high school.

She will find out on September 12 if she made the grade, to become the first transgender homecoming queen in the history of Kansas City.

Source: Transgender teen nominated for homecoming queen at metro high school | fox4kc.com