TransActive Gender Center wants to sic lawyers on “non-supportive” parents

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Jenn Burleton, Executive Director of TransActive, a leading U.S. organization promoting “early transition” of  children, posted this today on Burleton’s Facebook page. The organization is seeking

“to establish a network of attorneys with experience in family law/custody disputes who have an interest in helping supportive parents/caregivers protect their transgender and gender diverse children and teens from psychological, emotional and physical trauma inflicted by non-supportive parents/guardians/DHS/CPS, etc.

This will involve a willingness to (in some cases) to provide very low-cost or pro bono representation.
We have an immediate need for assistance in Oregon, however, this initiative seeks to establish a nationwide network.“

Burleton, a male-to-female transgender individual,  has famously stated that the prepubescent children TransActive “serves” have the cognitive wherewithal to choose permanent sterility.

It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that Burleton wants to go after parents who are skeptical of pediatric transition. After all, this is the same organization which sneaks breast binders to young teens behind their parents’ backs.

I find it rather interesting that CPS (Child Protective Services) makes the list of potentially “non-supportive” entities “inflicting trauma” on trans kids. Wonder what Burleton’s beef is with our society’s main legal protector of children? Guess CPS is not yet on board with TransActive’s interpretation of protecting our youth from predatory adults. Oh, wait…

26 thoughts on “TransActive Gender Center wants to sic lawyers on “non-supportive” parents”

  2. Creepy as hell. Especially the CPS part…0_o

    And “caregivers”. I wonder who they might be and what their interests might be here. Let’s face it, none of this sounds healthy.

    I honestly don’t see how people don’t see through this stuff.

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    • Yeah, isn’t it curious that the list of inflicters is quite a bit more comprehensive (and with the coda “etc.”–must be too many traumatizers to enumerate!) than the supportive, caregiving ones. Feeling a bit beleaguered, perchance?

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      • Perhaps they ship binders because binders are preferable to ace bandage; perhaps we teach sex ed because safe sex is preferable to teen pregnancy? And doesn’t CPS also frequently tear families apart over medical marijuana?

        Maybe I’m too “passive”, but I’ve always favored harm-reducing and guidance over “crime and punishment”.

      • Absolutely binders are safer than Ace bandages, and if a girl is going to bind, better a binder than do-it-yourself. If this were just about “harm reduction,” it would be one thing. But TransActive is heavily involved in pediatric transition (they themselves say most of the children who come to them are 10 and under). Binding is often a prequel to double mastectomy, something TransActive also supports. And finally, the real point of this is that they deliberately help these girls defy their parents’ wishes; the criterion for getting a free binder is financial need or “unsupportive parents.” Why do the adults who run TransActive think they have the right to undermine parenting decisions made by other adults? Some of these girls, after discussing the issue with parents who love them (and know them and their histories, unlike the stranger-transactivists who run Transactive), might decide they don’t need to crush their breast tissue, after all. How do the leaders of TransActive know what is going on in these girls’ families? The answer is: They don’t know. And they don’t care.

        And yes, CPS doesn’t always make the best decisions for families, but in many cases, they do good work and help abused kids. I’ve known several case workers for CPS and their goal is generally to keep families together when they can. I just find it quite interesting that TransActive is setting CPS up as the enemy. Maybe there are actually some CPS workers who see through this pediatric transition narrative…

  5. As someone who went through 11 years of family court hell, I couldn’t be more opposed. Be very leery of big money entering custody issues, whether it’s this or the U.S. government Fatherhood Initiative.

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  6. This is not the first I have heard of this; the transavocate was promoting the idea that men that dress up in their 40s and 60s be able to sue to remove children as young as five from their mothers’ care and ‘crossdressing men’ be granted custody if the man in a dress felt the child[he is not even related to] was gender non-conforming,

    It all sounds like pedophile bullshit to get sexual access to children by removing them from their mother’s protection to perform sexual experiments on. This cult has a purpose to remove women as the gatekeepers’ of children, and put men’s sexual rights above human rights of women & children.

    I hope this pedophile org representing men’s rights to access children- not even related to them-and remove them from their parents is shut down soon.

    o_0

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  7. Wow, just wow. This is so wrong. It completely defies common sense.

    My hope here is that there won’t be attorneys stepping up to collaborate with TransActive. If the attorneys are smart they will research what kind of organization it really is.

    Just looking into their “In a Bind” program should make them want to get as far away from TransActive as possible. Sending binders to minors (in unmarked packages, of course) without parental consent should raise all sorts of alarm bells for these attorneys.

    Wearing a binder can have serious health effects and it wouldn’t surprise me if a parent of one of these recipients felt the need to pursue legal action.

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    • Actually I would like to see some regretters who have de-transitioned sue some of these advocates and providers. I mean, if tobacco companies can be held liable for the damage caused by smoking then these purveyors of off-label hormones and these binders should be easily found liable.

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  8. Actually this may end up falling into the “be careful what you wish for” category. I don’t know that these activists would want to have courts ruling on whether their In a Bind program constitutes unauthorized practice of medicine. What happens if a court says In a Bind is allowed but has to meet a huge bunch of medical standards?? What happens if a court definitively rules that parents have the ultimate say in transitioning or requires a legal process whereby there is more reality-testing and pushback? Court is always a bit of a crap shoot, and you are not guaranteed to have the outcome you want.

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    • Forgot to add that the gender critical community should think long and hard about a process to advocate for should the opportunity present itself. I know people would prefer that parents have exclusive decision-making authority, but if there were to be a process beyond parents, what should it look like?

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  9. My assumption is that it’s generally a parent-vs-parent scenario, pitting a ‘supportive’ one (plus TransActive) against a ‘nonsupportive’ one?

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    • Yes, if you read Burleton’s Facebook post, TransActive is trying to recruit pro bono lawyers for custody and family law disputes, parent vs. parent–AND even “supportive” parents vs. Child Protective Services. Burleton emphasizes that it’s a nationwide quest. The screen cap is with my post, link here to the public Facebook post (for as long as it lasts):

      This is a very significant development. Burleton’s wording makes it clear that simply being “non-supportive” of pediatric transition is “inflicting trauma” in TransActive’s world. We are talking here about a deliberate effort to target parents who aren’t just going along with their minor kids being “transitioned.”

      By putting out a public call for legal resources, TransActive is clearly in this fight to win, and careful ongoing scrutiny is needed.

      The post mentions that there is an “immediate need” in Oregon. That tells you there are parents already embroiled in disputes related to pediatric transition in that state. Readers of this blog might want to consider whether they know of others in Oregon who are sympathetic to our views.

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      • My thoughts are with those that Burleton claims are “non-supportive.” I’m sure these parents (and other concerned caregivers) were already going through hell fighting for a more sane approach for their children. Adding the burden of possible legal action against them must seem like…I am at a loss for words…something worse than hell. I have a hard time trying to fathom what they must be going through.

        In a sane world none of this would be happening. I keep hoping that rational minds will prevail, that people like Burleton will be exposed as the one “inflicting trauma” on these children. Maybe by pursuing these actions he will bring negative attention to himself? We can only hope.

      • “Overwhelmed” below has hit the nail on the head with the term “non-supportive.” “Supportive” now means doing exactly what your minor child demands. “Non-supportive” parents are the ones who want to take it slow, figure out what’s going on with their child, and delay medical intervention. That sounds like responsible parenting, and yet ‘s the new definition of “non/unsupportive.” It’s unreal.

        These new definitions evidently have made their way into the medical field, as well. There is a Frontline Google Hangout with one of the doctors, the filmmakers, a parent, and an activist here:

        https://plus.google.com/events/c8ts1le3rpa60fujht975lr7lno

        Somewhat late in the video, they discuss which parents were “supportive” and which weren’t, and then even correlate the child’s acting-out behavior with the “unsupportive” parent, who, after the filming was done, was essentially coerced by his child’s anti-social behavior into giving his consent to hormone treatments.

        I can’t think of any other area of child health/well-being (or even parenting in general!) where a parent who does not rush into doing what the child/teenager wants, especially when there are such permanent changes being made, is deemed to be unsupportive and a hazard to the child’s well-being. Conventional pediatric recommendations are that parents should not indulge their children and that it’s up to the parents to set healthy boundaries. Except this one. And this one has such huge consequences. It makes no sense.

  10. This doesn’t surprise me at all. It is analogous to the position that many mothers find themselves in when a spouse transitions. There are often children left reeling in the wake as they see and experience their father abandon his family role and they are forced to try and make sense of a loss that is not of their choosing.

    The trans narrative is that it is the mother’s role to persuade and assist the children into going along with a father’s transition as the first priority, no matter how traumatised they or the child is feeling. Any thing else means that the mother is labelled as ”hostile and uncomprehending”.

    It is extremely hard to put aside ones grief and stay strong for your child as they grapple with this. Therapists that will truly listen to a child and help them deal with their conflicting emotions rather than prioritising the transitioning father’s agenda is problematic.

    I just want to say how much I admire the way that you have stayed strong for your daughter. I find your blog truly inspiring.

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    • Atranswidow, thank you. I have followed your comments here and on other blogs and really appreciate your perspective. It is absolutely mind-boggling to imagine what you and your kids must have endured. Please visit often and tell us about your experiences. This trend hurts families in such a big way, yet there are so few places where it’s safe to talk about it. The assumption is that transition is ALWAYS worth it for the individual, and if it’s hard on the families? It’s their problem. Did you see this (reblogged from transgenderreality?)
      //4thwavenow.com/2015/06/03/sometimes-i-worry-that-were-raising-the-tiniest-douchebag/

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      • Thank you. Yes i did see that article you linked too and felt desperately sorry for those children.

        If I could link to a piece that Gallus posted on Gender Trender recently on the ”So you husband is becoming a woman thread” that has affected me quite deeply.

        http://www.vice.com/read/heres-what-my-life-has-been-like-since-my-dad-came-out-as-transgender-619

        It’s the personal story of a young woman whose father comes out as trans and the effect that it has on her and her family. I was struck by how let down she had been by her parents; her abusive father and her mother who does nothing to stand up to him. She has no one to turn to, loses her boyfriend over it and her friends can’t handle her grief. She turns to the trans narrative and drinks the kool-aid by the gallon, with no one to stop her. In the end she fiercely defends her father, as if the parent /child roles had been reversed. I don’t blame her mother and we know nothing of her. I wonder how things would have turned out if her mother had been stronger or at least helped to by an independent therapist. No doubt the trans view is that this is a story with a happy ending.

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