Today...

I will be away all day at the True Colors conference and in the afternoon I will be giving my workshop in the last timeslot of the day. Afterward on the way home, I will have dinner a friend and then go home and crash to be ready for the second day of the conference. Then Saturday evening I’m going to a lesbian dance.

The workshops that I’m attending are…

Global LGBT Rights (Professional Audience): Participants will explore the status of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) communities throughout the world. Resources, instructional tools, video clips and other techy tools will be shared!

One of the reasons that I want to attend this workshop to see how much of an emphasis the presenter places on the “T” in LGBT.

Controversies in Gender Diagnosis (Parents and Caregivers): Parents and caregivers, educators, pediatricians, clinicians are being increasingly challenged to respond effectively to the unique needs of gender non-conforming children. But what is the right response when a five year old insists she is a boy? Or a four year old says that he is a boy on the outside and a girl on the inside? Please join this distinguished and accomplished panel of clinicians, doctors and researchers as share their diverse experiences, theories, questions, ideas and best practices in working with these children and their families.

Transgender for Direct Care Workers: A 101 for Care of Transgender Youth (Professional Audience): This workshop will introduce to providers to the world of transgender as it relates to working with transgender children and adolescents in care. The workshop will cover the basics of what’s transgender?, critical issues in providing care, development of a safe environment for trans youth, and the impact of heterosexism and thinking outside the gender binary in agencies and foster and residential care.
I am attending these workshops because of the volunteer work that I’m doing at the health collective and also I know some of the presenters.

My workshop is in the last timeslot of the day and on Saturday,

Helping your loved one have a healthy transition (Parents and Caregivers): People who are transitioning need a lot of resources for a smooth and healthy transition, but the most important resources are the people in their lives. This workshop is designed for those people, because they need support themselves. Learn who to contact and how to get support instantly, understand ‘pronoun etiquette', get familiar with important terminology and vocab to be trans* savvy, learn how to make the switch with a new name and get food and lifestyle tips to keep yourself centered and grounded during the process.

I would love to go to another workshop but it is in the same timeslot, “How the Matthew Shepard/James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act Affects You (General Audience),” I know the presenter and I saw his presentation once so I decided to attend the other workshop.

Working with the Families of Gender Non-Conforming Children (Professional Audience) :  Many parents feel concerned and uncertain about how to handle their children’s gender expression or identity when those do not align with social expectations or the child’s birth sex. While they can access information online, they might feel isolated, struggling to find other parents who can understand their dilemmas or appreciate their family accomplishments. While some parents find it easier to embrace gender-variance, other parents find themselves uncertain as to how best protect and nurture a child with gender fluidity. How can clinicians, social workers and child welfare professionals help families negotiate positive parent-child interactions with transgender, gender non-conforming and/or gender fluid children?

And on Saturday I will probably leave and go home after this workshop on to rest up for dancing in the evening.