Changing Perspectives of the Nuclear Family in Rémy Huberdeau'sTransforming Family

There has been much discussion about transgender adults in recent years but lately there has been a shift to the discussion of transgender children. Growing Up Coy (2016) is a documentary about a 6-year-old transgender. The documentary follows Coy and her family through a time where Coy’s parents fight for her rights as a transgender individual. This film discusses childhood gender-variant behavior, discrimination and prejudice, and proposes many questions about one’s opinions of being transgender, gender identity, etc.

What if you had a child who was experiencing gender dysphoria? A child who didn’t feel that they were comfortable being the gender that they were born into? What would you do if your child wanted to become the opposite gender? In the documentary “Growing up Trans” (TV Episode 2015) Children who are experiencing gender dysphoria tell their stories about what it’s like growing up transgender. The documentary offers insight on the issues and complications the children and their parents face while transitioning.

One of the main confusions around LGBTQ families is how they physically have a baby. There are a lot of different ways that queer people have children, the most common is just that someone had sex with someone of another gender. Many people who were in relationships and had children later came to understand that their relationship was no longer compatible with their sexuality. Adoption is also common, and recently use of IVF has been on the rise. Surrogacy, sperm donors, and foster care are also contributing factors to how families that aren’t made up of a male parent and a female parent. Although having children is always classed, being gay and having children is classed on many additional layers. Firstly, so many on these family-building methods are very expensive. Adoption comes with lots of legal fees and expenses that are time consuming and complicated to do within the family and hiring a lawyer is expensive. Often LGBTQ families go to another country from which to adopt. One example is China, where there are hundreds of thousands of girls needing to be

In her article A Boy’s Life, Hanna Rosin gives us a glimpse at what some of these transgender children go through. As she follows the life of Brandon (later called Bridget), she unveils a range of hurdles that kids like him and his parents must overcome. Problems like social rejection, gender identification, and the anxiety that all of this creates becomes the usual for a family like Brandon’s. But even so, all of this is minimal in comparison to the huge decision that the parents must make in behalf of the child. In the article, Rosin reveals to us that scientists have come up with a way to prevent a kid’s development into

Scholars have been critical of the medical establishment’s and state’s involvement in constructing and policing of transgender identity. These kinds of pressing issues have occupied the small existing literature. There is not much information and studying what is being done on transgender in traditional areas, family studies research, such as their dating behavior and formation of intimate relationships in adulthood. There is little research on the issues around being parents, their children’s experiences with having transgendered parents, as well as relationships in the family as a whole, and relationships in work and school.

Topics concerning transgender can be very overwhelming for some. When one thinks of the term transgender, one may think of the process of an individual identifying as the opposite sex. The opposite sex of what he or she was born as. For some, this may involve undergoing surgical procedures or taken hormonal medications to fulfill their desire. However, when thinking of this process, one automatically thinks of transgender adults. This is rarely a topic that one would assume would be racing through the minds of young children, but in fact it is. More children today than ever, are either speaking out about their identity concerns, or displaying it in their lives. In fact, according to Date Line NBC, “The handful of American doctors who specialize

Until quite recently, the traditional view of family that has predominated society has been comprised of gender roles. The “ideal” family in the past has consisted of a white, middle-class, heterosexual couple with about 2.5 children. In this heteronormative nuclear family, the father is the head of the household and the breadwinner of the family, while the mother is the one who cares for the children and completes household duties. Of course, most families do not fit into this mould and those who do not fit have been repeatedly marginalized due to their differences. It is no question that race, class, sexuality, ability, and many other identity markers intersect in how forms of family may vary. As explained by the concept of intersectionality, gender must be analyzed through a lens that includes various identity markers which contribute to how an individual experiences oppression. It is through the use of intersectionality, the discussion of patriarchy, and the deconstruction of “family” that bell hooks (1990) and Michelle K. Owen (2001) paint family as a site of belonging and contestation.

We have all seen the classic television scene, where a happy family consisting of one mother, one father, and two children is hovered around a table or a couch. Although still prominent, this scene is becoming less common nowadays as more families become non-traditional. More families than ever are consisting of one mother and children, one father and children, grandparents and children, and even two mothers or two fathers and children. These households, although not what most people consider a normal household, are becoming more common and regular in today’s society. Homosexual parents and families are indeed different from more traditional families, but not for the worse. This trend is not increasing

The majority of trans* individuals realize in early childhood (i.e. between the ages of 2 to 4 years) that their assigned gender, by birth and societal expectations, is not congruent with their inner sense of self, as a result their earliest experiences of validation or rejection are rooted within the family system (Bernal & Coolhart, 2012). In 2012, Travers et al., conducted a study for the Children’s Aid Society in Toronto, Ontario. Their goal was to investigate the impact of strong parental support for trans* youth between the ages of 16-34. Through the use of self-report methods trans* youth reporting positive parental support, compared to those reporting little to no support demonstrated significant increases in life satisfaction, mental health, self-esteem and the likelihood of obtaining adequate housing. Of the 433 youth surveyed 34% reported they had parents they considered “very supportive,” leaving 67% of trans* youth rating their level of parental support between “somewhat” to “not at all.” Therefore, in order to address the needs of this large population of unsupported youth a TA-CBT therapist must understand the cognitive blockages underlying discrimination and rejection toward this population.

The conception that lesbians and gay men may be parents is frequently perceived in today 's society as impossible or immoral. Gay men and lesbians are often viewed as excluded from having children because sexual reproduction is related to men and women couples only. My approach to this uniquely controversial topic of gay parenting will be that of attempting to analyze the pro side. Gays and lesbians are human too and who is to say that they don 't deserve equal rights in society. Society has to realize that the modern family has developed into many different forms in recent years in that the traditional "nuclear family" is not necessarily the

The LGBTQ population is comprised of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered individuals, and queer or questioning individuals. In addition to having higher rates of substance abuse and seeking substance abuse treatment (McCabe, West, Hughes, & Boyd, 2013; Silvestre, Beatty, & Friedman, 2013; Senreich, 2009), LGBTQ individuals and their families have unique issues in family and treatment settings. In family settings, youths who either identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning or youths who have parents who identify as LGBTQ

Throughout the past decades sex and gender have remained in major taboos and impacts within the transgender communities. Indeed, after participating in a Transgender Panel Discussion at Fresno State University, reading articles like Meet the Muxes, class discussions and the conclusion for all four sources lead to words like exclusion, discrimination, and oppressions because those define the lives of transgender, Muxes, and that for following their gender identities become the target for judgement and for countless . However, I never imagined that I could put myself in the shoes of these diverse identities until I visualized the challenges that fill their lives everyday for simply

Healthy family systems, such as the traditional family, with a father and mother, was no longer the majority in America, in 2014. “Fewer than half (46%) of U.S. kids younger than 18 years of age are living in a home with two married heterosexual parents in their first marriage. This is a marked change from 1960, when 73% of children fit this description, and 1980, when 61% did.”4

The experience of growing up LGBTQ+ alone is one of difficulty in much of western society; however, this becomes even more so when a person is transgender. This stems from many origins. It is, of course, possibly the most argued that being transgender is a choice. People argue that if someone can change their sex, they should be able to change their race or age. Many people say this out of jest, but some say it in seriousness, not understanding what people who are transgender are truly experiencing. None of us ever will if we ourselves are not transgender. In the film Growing Up Trans, we see parents who vary in their levels of support for their children. For many parents, especially those who hold their religious faith close to

Many LGTBTQ people struggle with identity when they are young. Some tell their parents how they really feel and others choose to “stay in the closet”. Either way, the transition for most people is not easy. The panel leaders at the discussion expressed their different journeys of when they “came out” and how family and friends reacted. One of the panel leaders said that when she told her parents that she was gay, they immediately did not want to talk about it. Some other panel leaders said that their parents blew up about it at first and now they have become more accepting. Some of the common phrases that most friends and family members have told them were “it is just a phase”, “you have not been with the right man yet”, and “you are going to hell”. Most of the panel leaders said that when they “came out” it put a strain on their family relationships. The transgender woman said that she has not been to any Thanksgiving or Christmas gatherings because of the rejection she has felt from her family. She also does not really speak to her dad anymore. Another panel leader, who is a lesbian, said that her mom has met her girlfriend but is still not that accepting of her lifestyle. She said her mom’s biggest question is “Are you going to marry a woman?’. She also does not like to be around her extended family because they always “throw bible scriptures at her”. One thing I found interesting was that all the panelists had in common was that they all have had issues with their family acceptance of who they are, but they feel like they have found a home within the LGBTQ community here at Mississippi State. This is important because Mississippi State embraces diversity. Even though there is still more work to be done to increase diversity and inclusion, many people still can find an organization they can identify with and grow as a person in their own beliefs and