I have been caring for Gender Variant folks now for nearly a decade now. It isn’t the largest part of my practice, however it is a part of my work that I cherish because being transgendered in our society can be extremely difficult. When “In Touch” Magazine asked me to be interviewed about Bruce Jenner’s transition, I decided to do it in the hopes that my comments might be one small step toward making it easier for all families where there is Gender Variance. To be clear, Bruce is not my client or I wouldn’t be talking about this.
However there is a lesson here where all of us cisgendered folks can help. It is very important to almost all transgendered folks that they are referred to with proper pronouns. Most of what is written about Bruce continues to refer to Bruce as him. If we are being respectful, we would ask how a trans-person wants to be referred to and then do that judiciously. A person transitioning from Male to Female would generally want to be referred to as female, she, her. That is one way all of us can help make our transgendered friends and family feel loved and supported.
