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Research Participants Needed
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ALL
FAMILIES WELCOME PROJECT
The
purpose of All Families Welcome, a project of the LA Gay & Lesbian Center,
Children, Youth and Family Services Dept., is to work with child and family-
related organizations, agencies and professionals to help them become better at
serving our LGBTQI families.
If you are a same-gender loving, lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex or
transgendered parent, co-parent, grandparent, partner of a parent, guardian, or
any other adult caretaker, full or part-time, of one or more children, ages
0-15 years old, OR if you are in the process of trying to form a family with
children, we would like to hear about your experiences.
The survey takes about 15-30 minutes to complete.
There is a PRIZE DRAWING FOR COMPLETED SURVEYS: you can win FOUR (4) tickets to
Adventure City, a child-focused theme park in Anaheim, CA.
CONTACT: Amanda Litwin, Program Supervisor
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RESEARCH
STUDY FOR PARENTS OF GV CHILDREN 8-18
Does
your child prefer clothing, toys, and play that are stereotypically associated
with the opposite gender? Does your
child cross-dress? Does your child
identify as the opposite gender to their biological sex, or feel that they are
in the wrong body? If any of the above
are true for your child, and if your child is 8 -18 years old,
please help us to learn more about the role acceptance
plays in the well being of these children.
If you are interested,
you will be asked to complete a brief demographic questionnaire and from there,
you and your child may be asked to complete two surveys that will take 30-60 min. to complete.
The study is
confidential and no identifying information will be used. The surveys will be mailed to your home and
you will be provided with a SASE to mail them back.
Research will be conducted
by Heather Bradley, a clinical psychology doctoral student at the California
Institute of Integral Studies and will be supervised by her dissertation chair,
Katie McGovern, Ph.D.
CONTACT: Heather Bradley, (415) 971-8091
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RESEARCH STUDY FOR FTM'S PRE-T
We know many of the physical changes brought about by
testosterone treatment, yet there have not been any studies in the United
States examining the psychological changes associated with starting
testosterone. This is due to the lack of longitudinally designed studies and
the difficulty associated with recruiting this population. The research study measures at least 30 FTMs before they begin testosterone, 3-4 months after their first dose and 10-12 months after their
first dose. Stacey Colt Meier is a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology and this
project is part of his doctoral dissertation. He is supervised by Dr. Julia Babcock, Associate Professor of Psychology
at the University of Houston. Stacey Colt Meier identifies as a member of the
transmasculine community. CONTACT: Stacey Colt Meier
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More about Gender Variance
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Gender
identity is the internal/psychological experience of gender. Gender
identity is not determined by one's anatomical sex.
Gender
Variance refers to the "behaviors and interests that fall outside what
is considered normal for a person's assigned biological sex" and is more than a
passing phase but a persistent quality in the person's manner of expressing themselves.
Gender variance can range in expression and intensity from
preference for
"cross-gender" clothing, toys and
types of play to the stated desire or the stated insistence that the person is
the other sex. This can occur as young as age 2.
Estimates
of gender variance range from 1 in 500 to 1 in 20,000. The difficulties in
estimating incidence are the result in under reporting, lack of awareness of
intersex conditions, shame as well as lack of consistent systems for monitoring
incidence as well as the historical invisibility of this issue in medical
research.
Transgender
a term for someone who's gender identity does
not align with their anatomical sex and lives in the cross gender role. They
may or may not modify their bodies. They may be gay, straight, bi-sexual or
heterosexual.
Sexual
orientation is related by different from gender identity. Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Intersexed and Transgender people all transgress gender roles and
norms and often appear or identify as gender variant. Transgender people
identify as gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual.
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Greetings!
I'd
like to introduce Journeys: an affirming newsletter for the LGBTQ community, which is replacing both Reflections and Pathways newsletters.
This new ezine will be published on a quarterly basis, and will offer a more inclusive format to address the needs of our
diverse community. My passion is supporting the LGBTQ community with quality, culturally
competent mental health information that supports the cause for equality,
justice, civil rights as well as
training and educating other professionals in cultural competency.
 To
this end, each issue of Journeys will include topical articles on mental
health, relationship and family issues in order to inform, educate and support
you as a community as you seek information, come out, build families and build
community. Journeys will include OASIS: a
resource section including links to events and services for the LGBTQ
community. Journey's will also offer a special section for professionals who are interested in
cultural competency training opportunities and current trends in the Mental
Health field and LGBTQ issues.
One
reason for this change is the tremendous overlap in the issues that I see in
the various subcultures of our diverse community. My hope is to provide a more relevant and
robust ezine. I welcome your input and feedback!
This
year, I have been working on many fronts, collaborating with other
professionals and activists to improve care and visibility for LGBTQI people in
the mental health community. One vital tool in making the case for improved
services, and cultural competency training among health care providers, is the statistical data that reflects the
current trends and experiences of LGBTQI people and their families. This data
is hard to come by. Therefore, I've included several links so that you can participate if you choose, and pass it
on to friends as well. I hope you will consider giving of your time in this
way. By doing so, you can provide vital information to researchers who use that
data to apply for grants, change public policy and advocate for the LGBTQI
community.
Warmly,
Lisa
"To laugh often and
much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to
leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because
you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~
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What Really Matters
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Over
Labor Day weekend, I headed to Seattle, WA to teach a workshop at the Gender Spectrum Family Conference. This
conference is for families with gender variant and gender non-conforming kids
of all ages. GV kids grow up to be straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual and some,
but not all, transition and identify as transgender.
In
preparing to speak, I did hours of research, writing. I also created two
beautiful powerpoint presentations and I was excited to use them for the first
time. It was time to go. I prepared my
thoughts, my techie slide show and my suitcase for the cold Seattle weather. I
was appropriately nervous but prepared.
My
first surprise was a technical glitch that resulted in nixing my powerpoint
presentation. As I addressed my audience with now stressed nervousness, the
result was not what I had hoped for. I did my best and set out to obtain the
necessary cables for my presentation the next day. On my quest, I met many nice cab drivers and
saw Puget Sound from the cab window at 60 mph!
But, I was determined. I wanted to share the information, and use the
presentation I had spent weeks preparing.
I
arrived early the next morning to meet with the AV assistant and after much
struggle, again, it looked as if the presentation would fail. Someone very kind
said to me that morning, "you know, all they really need is for you to be there
with them." This comment was like a bell, calling me to attention. I left him to struggle with the computer, and
I took time to get quiet.
I
asked myself, what is going on? I discovered that underneath this anxiety about
the presentation was a fear that without it, I would not be enough. I breathed
into this and worked with just letting the feeling be there and wondering...is
this really true? No.
Then,
I asked myself a second question: What really matters?
I
sat with that. What really matters is being here, now.
I
returned, ready for whatever I found. The slideshow worked and it was useful,
but by then, I had shifted. What really matters is being here with the people
in this room. This presentation went completely different than the first. The
audience and I connected and they connected to each other. It was powerful.
 I could tell that these were some of the most
tender and loving parents on the planet.
These
parents were faced with difficult and confusing choices. In doing so, they sort
through a lot of information, to try and make the best decision for their
child, while often dealing with the fear and ignorance of others. These
parents are practicing love: extending themselves for the sake of their child
by recognizing and responding to the suffering of their child, despite their
fear and uncertainty. What really matters to them is the well being of their
child.
Through
our discussion, I had to just pause and marvel at the love in this room full of
parents. In their eyes, I could see the compassion and concern, as well as the
grief and fear that they felt. I knew, what really matters is being with each
other in community. Each person in their
own way, no longer feeling alone. Each person, in their own way, getting what
they needed: information, support, encouragement, and community. That's really
what community means.
As
I walked the halls and met some of the kids who were there, I felt a great deal
of hope. The next generation of LGBTQI people is standing on the shoulders of
all that has come before and they are creating tremendous change. These kids
are even freer than the generation before them. And with parents like those at
Gender Spectrum Family Conference...they can truly soar.
 But the world is not a welcoming place for
those who transgress norms of sexuality and gender. What really matters is
making our schools, our communities, our world, safer for all children.
This
movement, this community is alive and evolving. The concepts and social
expressions of gender and the language we attach to it is also evolving. Our
youth are challenging us to go further in our understanding as they come out at
younger ages. The concepts and labels that we use today, will change and evolve
as they continue to push forward.
I was challenged to look again at my own
assumptions and preconceptions about myself and others. I was challenged to
de-construct the notions of gender again, by recognizing new possibilities in
creative ways of living out gender identity.
The socially prescribed divisions that separate us are illusions at
best. Despite all of our differences in appearance, race, culture, gender...our
DNA is 99.9% the same. What really matters, is our common humanity.
As
I returned home, I realized I had more questions than answers and that was ok.
What really matters, is not how much you know, but being present and continuing
to ask the questions. That's what Journeys is all about. Asking the questions
together, and living our way, as a community, into the answers.
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...have patience with everything unresolved in
your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked
rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the
answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to
live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now.
Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even
noticing it, live your way into the answer.
-Ranier
Maria Rilke
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 Peace on your journey,
Lisa
Lisa Maurel, MFT
© 2009 Lisa Maurel, MFT, Lic. 32416
- All rights reserved.
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