You are the number one most important factor in your kid’s overall well-being.
You are the number one most important factor in your kid’s overall well-being.
Leading Education & Resource Hub for parents raising transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive youth. All the information you need, in one place.
June 2, at 4:00 pm PT (7:00 pm ET)
Parental Practice: Cultivating Gender Affirming Cultural Humility for Staying Connected to Your Trans and Gender Diverse Child
with Dr. Katie Heiden-Rootes
In this discussion, we focus on the importance of the parent-child relationship. Parent-child relationship quality, including the degree of emotional support and acceptance, is the single biggest predictor of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and poor mental health for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth. This talk draws on research and clinical expertise for describing 5 parental practices for cultivating gender-affirming cultural humility to improve connection and communication with your TGD child.
About the Presenter
Dr. Katie Heiden-Rootes is a professor in the department of Family and Community Medicine in the School of Medicine and has a dual appointment as an Assistant Vice President in the Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement at Saint Louis University. Her scholarship is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Missouri Foundation for Health, and the National Science Foundation. Her scholarship focuses on two areas. First, the advancement of clinical training and research on the health of the LGBTQIA+ community and their families. And second, intersectional faculty equity and culture change within higher education.
Discover
The Gender Journey
A Path For Parents From Confusion, Fear, And Doubt To Clarity And Confidence.
The gender journey for a parent follows a path that usually starts with a lot of fear and confusion. As you work your way through this first phase, which may involve some denial and bargaining, you find yourself squarely faced with the reality that your child is dealing with significant gender stuff and needs your help to navigate it. If in this process you realize your child is trans, non-binary, or gender expansive, you quickly set out on a quest to find accurate information about what to do to help your child and to figure out if this is even something you need to deal with…
Explore Resources: Your Guides to Understanding
EXPLORE ARTICLES
Finding Strength in Community: How I’m Connecting With Other Trans People for Support
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My Trans Existence Is Political, but It’s Also Beautiful
Nothing in life is random. Even when we struggle to understand certain events, each one has shaped us in ways [...]
How to Be a Trans Ally in 2025
We are living in a time of great change and great opportunity. While progress in inclusivity has faced resistance, history [...]
Transgender Day of Visibility 2025: We’re Still Here, and We’re Not Going Anywhere
Three years ago, I wrote a piece for LGBTQ+ History Month in the UK. It marked the abolition of Section [...]
Supporting Transgender and Nonbinary Youth: A Guide for Families on the Gender Journey
For transgender and nonbinary individuals, family support is the cornerstone of their overall well-being. A family’s understanding and acceptance [...]
The Healing Effect of Joining a Support Community
When gender is an issue for your kid, your reaction could be one of fear, denial, sadness, or other negative [...]
Coming Out as a Parent of a Transgender Child
The family is essentially the foundation from which Transgender people and members of the LGBTQ+ community as a whole [...]
My Kid Came Out As Non-Binary And I Feel Completely Lost
Understanding Non-Binary Identities: Where to Start Even if you’re comfortable with the idea of gender diversity and aware that there’s [...]
EXPLORE STORIES
Ongoing Story of a Kid’s Gender Journey – Part 11
This is part of an ongoing series. See the rest of this series here, along with links to other resources [...]
Ongoing Story of a Kid’s Gender Journey – Part 10
This is part of an ongoing series. See the rest of the series here, along with links to other resources [...]
Ongoing Story of a Kid’s Gender Journey – Part 9
This is part of an ongoing series. See the rest of the series here, along with links to other resources [...]
Ongoing Story of a Kid’s Gender Journey – Part 8
This is part of an ongoing series. See the rest of the series here, along with links to other resources [...]
You are not alone in all of this no matter where you are on your journey
All parents are welcome here! We are better together!
TransFamily Alliance supports parents from all backgrounds and holds as part of its mission a full commitment to be supportive and accountable to issues of diversity. We welcome all parents regardless of age, race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, physical ability, thinking style, religion, and physical location to our community and believe that our personal backgrounds bring richness to our community.
We support BIPOC parents and the Black Lives Matter movement. If any of us suffer, we all suffer.
All Black Lives Matter!