Yesterday I learned that someone in my husband’s extended family has begun the MTF transition. Her family is having some difficulty understanding and dealing with this. Her parents are both in their mid- to late-70’s and just don’t get it. To their credit, however, they really want to try, and they know that they need to deal with it if they want to continue having a relationship (which they do).
I was asked if I could get them some resources, since I am in the mental health field. However, Gender Identity is not an area of expertise for me, so I figured I would ask some of the knowledgable folks here. Specifically what they are looking for are books/websites/groups (Massachusetts area) on how they themselves can boh cope with the wide range of emotions they are feeling and deal with the changes in the entire family (there are young grandchildren involved, as well as a son who refuses to have anything to do with the transgendered individual now, and so they are feeling torn, etc).
Really, anything anyone can tell me about reputable resources would be greatly appreciated. As you can imagine, googling ‘transgender’ really brings up too wide an array right now.
http://www.patcalifia.com/
Patrick Califia is a great writer on the subject, and his book Sex Changes: Transgender Politics is one of the best. Should have been included on the above list.
http://www.gendersanity.com/
“Transitions That Work is a consulting service for transsexuals who plan to transition on the job, their coworkers, and their employers.”
http://p218.ezboard.com/bthetransgenderboards
The TG Boards are the best discussion group for trans people that I’ve found. They’re starting over, as a few weeks ago EZBoards was hit by a malicious attack that wiped out all their archives, so they need to repopulate those forums. This is a good site for asking other trans people for help, advice, and information. Many of them are very experienced, knowledgeable, and helpful to newbies.
Not to leave out this one: http://www.genderpsychology.org/
which IMHO is one of the best transgender sites in existence. It has huge amounts of information, plus it’s presented with a human touch.