As a single mommy with full sole custody of my 2 boys, I was searching the web for a good place to network with other "mommies" like myself, and came across Cafemom.
Cafemom is an online community created especially for moms. Thousands of moms have come together online to swap stories and advice on a huge range of topics, share photos, and connect with friends. Cafemom users each get their own homepage which they can customize to show off their personality. Plus, they can start public or private groups with other moms about common interests. Moms of all ages and beliefs are now meeting, conversing, and having fun at Cafemom.
I typed the keyword transgender into the search box and was kind of surprised at the amount of resources I found for transgender moms like myself. I was reading some of the message board posts and was amazed at how accepting many of the moms were towards the transgender community. There is also a fairly decent presence of openly lesbian mommies also.
I feel Cafemom would be a great place for us who are, or consider ourselves as moms, to go in and set up profiles and groups, and let our presence be known. This would be a great place to politely educate other moms as to our issues. I also believe this would be a great advocacy tool for our community. We could also work on establishing a network for moms of transgender children.
True Selves by Mildred L. Brown, Chloe Ann Rounsley
Synopsis
Filled with wisdom and understanding, True Selves paints a vivid portrait of the conflicts transexuals face on a daily basis. The Courage they must summon as they struggle to reveal their true being to themselves and others. This classic resource offers valuable guidance for friends, families, coworkers, and professionals who are struggling to understand these people and their situations. Using real life stories, actual letters, and other compelling examples, True Selves gives a clear understanding of what it means to be transexual and offers practical suggestions for dealing compassionately with these commonly misunderstood individuals.
Praise for True Selves
"True Selves is Thorough and comprehensive....This is a serious and important book. If you know a transsexual, care about a transsexual, or are interested in understanding transsexuality, True Selves should be on your reading list." --The Transsexual New Telegraph
"The best popular introduction to transsexualism for all involved -- transsexuals, soffas (significant others, family, friends, allies), and the professionals working with and serving then -- is True Selves." -- The independent Press Book Review
"Each chapter poses questions and confronts comman misconceptions about transgendered people and offers recommendations to caregivers and family....presented in a simple, straightforward style and is easy to understand." --Gender Identity Journal
"With real life stories, letters, poems, and more, this is a first comming-out collection for the TS community." --Feminist Bookstore News
"A great resource to use in your coming out, when you just plain get tired of explaining your transsexualism and your soffas (significant others, family, friends, allies) really need to hear it from another source to validate your credibility". --Lynn's Place
The Authors
Mildred L. Brown is a clinical sexologist and therapist in private practice in San Jose, California. She is also professor of clinical sexology at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco.
Chloe Ann Rounsley is a writer, journalist, and editorial consultant based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
"What would you do if your little boy wanted to be a little girl? Dr. Phil continues the heated topic of gender confused kids. After the last show, viewers had a lot to say about the subject, and the message boards lit up with their impassioned opinions. Now, Dr. Phil speaks with Toni, a mother who says she can’t stop grieving the loss of her son who, at 11, began to transition into a female. Toni feels like her son has died, and she’s having a hard time adjusting to having a daughter. Joining the discussion is family researcher Glenn Stanton and psychologist Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, who say it’s the parents’ responsibility to guide their children into their gender-born identities. On the opposite side are psychiatrist Dr. Dan Siegel and psychotherapist Dr. Michele Angello, who say children are born this way, and parents should support their children in their decision to transition to the opposite sex. What do you think is the best way to treat a child with gender identity confusion? Don’t miss the heated debate as Dr. Phil continues to explore this fervid and hotly contested topic".
Dr. Phil McGraw continues to provide a platform to religious idealogues masquerading as experts in working with gender non-conforming children and youth. This is the second program he's done in less than 6 months that prejudicially describes these amazing and courageous children as "gender confused". Dr. Phil McGraw clearly has his own agenda, and it goes beyond the quest for high ratings.
View The Previous Show "Transgender Children"
Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and founder of the Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic in Encino, CA. His specialty is treating homosexual men who are dissatisfied with their sexual orientation. Dr. Nicolosi is the author of Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality and Healing Homosexuality: Case Studies. He serves as Executive Director and Research Coordinator of the National Association of Research and therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), a scientific non-profit organization designed to educate the general public on the questions surrounding the causes and treatment of same-sex attraction.
His therapeutic approach has been discredited and condemned by both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association.
Reparative therapy (also used interchangeably with the terms conversion therapy and sexual brokenness) is a practice the American Psychiatric Association says can “lead to depression, anxiety and self destructive behavior, and may reinforce self hatred.”
In 2006, the American Psychological Association issued a statement that expressed concern that ex-gay or “conversion therapy” was potentially damaging and might create an intolerant and discriminatory political and social climate. According to the statement: “For over three decades the consensus of the mental health community has been that homosexuality is not an illness and therefore not in need of a cure. The APA’s concern about the position’s espoused by NARTH (The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) and so-called conversion therapy is that they are not supported by the science. There is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. Our further concern is that the positions espoused by NARTH and Focus on the Family create an environment in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish.”
Glenn T. Stanton is the research fellow for global family formation at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. He is also directing a major research project on international family formation trends at the Institute of Marriage and Family in Ottawa. He debates and lectures extensively on the issues of gender, sexuality, marriage and parenting at universities and churches around the country. He recently served the Bush administration as a consultant on increasing fatherhood involvement in the Head Start program.
Daniel J Siegel, M.D. received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA with training in pediatrics and child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. He served as a National Institute of Mental Health Research Fellow at UCLA, studying family interactions with an emphasis on how attachment experiences influence emotions, behavior, autobiographical memory and narrative.
Dr. Michele Angello received her doctorate in human sexuality and her master's degree in psychological services. She is a certified clinical sexologist, and a member of the board of directors for both the Main Line Youth Alliance and the Renaissance Transgender Association. Dr. Angello is also a member of: the American College of Sexology; American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists; the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex; American Psychological Association; and the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association.
Please contact the producers of the Dr. Phil show and let them know that presenting scientifically unsupported opinions by anti-gay religious idealogues like Joseph Nicolosi and Glenn Stanton does very real harm to these children and their families. It reinforces the ignorance and intolerance that leads to teasing, bullying, harassment and violence against the children and youth who are already far too vulnerable and misunderstood.
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