The G&M Does Some Real Journalism

Mainstream media has an unfortunate habit of getting their facts wrong, or even outright failing to do their research when it comes to talking about transgender - and in particular transsexual - issues.

So, it was with some trepidation that I opened this article on The Globe and Mail: Mourning a Daughter, Celebrating a Son.

To my relief, the writers at the Globe and Mail actually took the time to do some research:

Transgender facts

Although social acceptance for transgender people is growing, parents continue to abandon youth with gender-identity issues when their children need them most, advocates say.

49 per cent of transgender people attempt suicide.

Transgender youth account for 18 per cent of homeless people in cities such as Chicago, but researchers estimate fewer than 1 in 1,000 people is transgender.

1 in 12 transgender people in America is murdered.

Transgender youth whose parents pressure them to conform to their anatomical gender report higher levels of depression, illegal drug use, suicide attempts and unsafe sex than peers who receive little or no pressure from parents.

Less than 1 to 1.5 per cent of individuals experience persistent regret after sex-reassignment surgery.

Sources: Guidelines for Transgender Care (2006), Gender Spectrum Education and Training, Families in TRANSition (2008)

The article is genuine and sympathetic to what is often a difficult change for families to accept - especially with teens. It talks quite reasonably about the struggles that parents face in such matters, and describes the results of being supportive.