Gender identity and expression are central to the way we see ourselves and engage in the world around us. This is certainly true of transgender and gender-expansive children and teens, for whom family support is absolutely critical.

One of the most important and difficult tasks that parents face is how to best support their children while also setting the kind of boundaries and structure that helps them grow up to become responsible and successful adults. Sure, children and teens love to test the boundaries that adults set for them. But it is important to make distinctions between instances where “kids are being kids” and when they’re asserting things about themselves that are critical to their identity and development -- as is the case with gender identity and expression. 

In other words, for some transgender youth, family support can be the difference between life and death.

Trans Actress Hunter Schafer on HBO’s Edgy Gen-Z Series ‘Euphoria’ety:Trans Gen-Z actress Hunter Schafer is poised for stardom, co-starring with Zendaya in the new HBO series "Euphoria."