- Delaware Valley Middle School
- Transgender and Gender Diversity Resources
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There are certain strategies to utilize when you are supporting a transgender or gender-expansive student.
1 First and foremost, believe them.
2 Validate and empathize with what they are saying-show them that their feelings are valid and demonstrate empathy.
3 Use affirming name and pronouns-on the first day of school it is best to ask students what name they want to be called by and remember to consistently use the affirming name and associated pronoun. If you make a mistake, apologize, correct it, and move on.
4 Help connect students to support and resources-create allies by identifying and connecting students to affirming people and resources.
5 Advocate-if you become aware of a situation that feels unsafe, intervene to make sure a student feels respected and affirmed.
6 Be proactive-research local supportive organizations, online resources, and supportive people.
Reactions to Transgender or Gender-Expansive Students
(The Nelson Continuum)
Lowest Level Reaction or Rejecting Punitive-expliciting punishing or harming the student or creating a hostile environment that is emotionally abusive.
Lower Level Reaction or Rejecting Non-Punitive- Rejecting a person because their gender identity or expression is incongruent with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Mid-Level Reaction or Qualified Acceptance-Giving mixed and ambiguous messages about acceptance or a person's gender identity or expression.
Higher Level Reaction or Full Acceptance- Unequivocally affirming a transgender person's gender or identity expression.
Highest Level Reaction or Advocacy- Taking proactive steps to publicly support transgender people, including and advocating for overall changes that make transgender people's experience better.
Links for Resources for Transgender and Gender Diversity Issues:
Children's Books that Break Gender Role Sterotypes
Looking at Gender Identity and Gender Expansive Books for Students
