It’s completely natural for parents of transgender children to feel some degree of confusion or doubt; but growing past this and supporting your child’s gender identity can be the difference between a happy child and a mentally unhealthy one.
GI Collection are a transgender clothing, beauty and support services brand who are committed to empowering and helping the transgender community. Here, founder Carmen Liu shares 5 ways to help transgender children.
- Research – do plenty of research and seek advice from people with experience. The internet is an invaluable resource for connecting with others and learning about things you previously had no understanding of. It might also help to connect with LGBT alliance groups or societies as they can offer advice.
- Don’t assume it’s a phase – you may have gone through a phase of blond hair and rebellion in your youth, but that doesn’t mean that what your child is going through is a phase too. Don’t discredit the child’s feelings, as there’s always a reason behind them. Listen and keep an open mind even though you might not completely understand.
- Clothes – don’t force your child to wear things they’re uncomfortable with. If they identify as a boy, making them wear a dress to school may be jarring and humiliating. Society is becoming freer from gender-norms, and you should be too!
- Provide support – connect your child to the right support services where needed. This might be a thera-pist, support group, or a network of other trans children who can help them to feel less isolated. Remember that being trans is still relatively rare in society, so you’ll need to be extra supportive to prevent feelings of loneliness and isolation.
- Be your child’s advocate – call out transphobia when you see it and ask that others respect your child’s identity. Nobody has the right to discriminate or cause harm – and it’s not always easy for trans children to stand up for themselves.
MORE ABOUT GI COLLECTION
Founded by Carmen Liu, GI Collection is a first-of-its-kind brand designed exclusively for transgender women. GI Collection includes a unique series of products and services, aimed to help transgender women feel both genuinely feminine and sexy. The brand comes as a stark contrast to the limited choice of ghastly and masculine products currently on the market, which can prevent transgender women feeling like the women that they are.
Despite elements of progress over the last few years, transgender people are still shunned from society and discriminated against unfairly, plus they often lack psychological/emotional support when it comes to making the transition. But GI Collection is aiming to change things, one leap at a time.
