Gender Spectrum Resources
General Parenting Resources
Parenting Your Gender Expansive Child
Communicating with Family and Friends
Sample Letters for Family and Friends
Tips for Choosing Professionals
Supporting and Caring for our Gender Expansive Youth
The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals
Gender Born, Gender Made: Raising Healthy Gender-Nonconforming Children
Gender Spectrum has online groups for parents and other adult family members, see our Groups page for the latest information.
Working with Schools
Supporting Gender Expansive Students
Transgender Students and School Bathrooms
Introduction: Creating Gender Inclusive Schools
Dress Codes: Your Right to Wear Clothes
Principles for Responding to Concerns
Responding to Concerns: Teaching About Gender
Responding to Concerns: Supporting Transgender Students
Gender Inclusive Puberty and Health Education
Puberty and Health Education Resources
Puberty and Health Education: FAQs for Parents and Families
PTA Resources for Parents and Caregivers
Audio series: Helpful Hints for Working with Schools
Camps and Sports Leagues
See our resources on youth development and sports.
See "Other Resources" below for information on high school and college sports policies.
Click below to see all of our resources on camps and gender.
Other Resources
Supportive Parenting
Family Acceptance Project: Publications, Trainings and Resources (including materials in Spanish and Chinese).
"Helping Families Support Their Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Children." Caitlin Ryan (2009). National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development.
Impacts of Strong Parental Support for Trangender Youth. TransPulse Study, 2012.
Early Childhood Development – Your Options –How Do I Know If My Child Is Transgender? National Association of Social Workers.
Supporting Gender Independent Children and their Families. Rainbow Health Ontario. 2012.
What’s So Bad About a Boy Who Wants to Wear a Dress? Ruth Padawer, New York Times, August 8, 2012.
The Mother Co. Blog series (Part 1, Part 2)
Raising My Rainbow by Lori Duron
Transitions of the Heart: Stories of Love, Struggle and Acceptance by Mothers of Transgender and Gender Variant Children. Edited by Rachel Pepper.
Nonbinary identities
I Don’t Identify as a Boy or a Girl: This is My Story. An article from MTV.
Life Outside the Binary: A Guide for Parents. From the Nonbinary Transgender Information Centre.
Working with Schools
California Safe Schools Coalition - Documenting Safety Needs for Gender Nonconforming Students.
Your Rights at School from the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Know Your Rights: School Bullying, from GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders.
Anti-Bullying Laws, by State, from GLSEN.
Know Your Title IX, a youth-led project of Advocates for Youth.
Health Concerns
Health Disparities Facing Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Youth Are Not Inevitable. Daniel Shumer, Pediatrics, March 2018.
Mental Health of Transgender Children Who Are Supported in Their Identities. Kristina R. Olson, Lily Durwood, Madeleine DeMeules and Katie A. McLaughlin, Pediatrics, March 2016.
Sports Leagues and Gender
Transathlete.com. See their list of policies for K-12 schools and the policies of major sport organizations.
Model Policy for Transgender Athletes in High School from the LGBT Sports Foundation.
Guidelines for Creating Policies for Transgender Children in Recreational Sports (2009). From the Transgender Law and Policy Institute.
On The Team: Equal Opportunity for Transgender Athletes (2010). A report from the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Women's Sports Foundation, and It Takes a Team.
Sports Project of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
U.S. Soccer Federation (2013): Inclusion Policy
"The Transgender Athlete." Inside Higher Education (2010).
Developing Policies for Transgender Students on High School Teams, National Federation of State High School Associations.
Resources from Schuyler Bailar, the first openly transgender athlete to compete in any sport on an NCAA Division 1 men’s team.
Also see our resources on youth development and sports.
Legal Concerns and Identity Documents
Identity document resources from the Transgender Law Center.
Guide to Changing California and Federal Identity Documents, from the Transgender Law Center.
Know Your Rights: Passports, from the National Center for Transgender Equality
Changing Birth Certificates Sex Designations: A State-by-State Guide from Lambda Legal Foundation.
FAQs for transgender youth, from Lambda Legal.
LGBTQ Equality Laws, by State (interactive map), Transgender Law Center and Movement Advancement Project (MAP)
How to Protect Your Family Against False Allegations of Child Abuse
Videos
Becoming Me. Eight families with transgender and gender expansive children ranging in ages from 5 to 25 share their stories. From In the Life Media, 2012.
A Place in the MIddle. A film on gender in Hawaii.
Why does my kid want to change their name and pronouns? A 2014 film from the Parents Project.
Raising Ryland. CNN Films.
Debi Jackson, "That's Good Enough." Mother's Day Speech, 2014.
Parenting Advice, a 2013 video with Johanna Olson, MD Medical Director, Center For Transyouth Health and Development, Children's Hospital Los Angeles.