Health and Well-Being Among Canadian LGBT Youth: The Role of Family

Presented by: Hilary A. Rose, Ryan Watson, Elizabeth M. Saewyc, Beth Clark, Jones Adjei

Given evidence of health inequalities among LGBT youth, this symposium features risk/resilience theory and a representative Canadian data set to study LGBT youth/family relations. This symposium is comprised of: (#1) Changes in Family and Parent Relations for Sexual Minority Adolescents in British Columbia since 1998: A Trend Analysis (#2) Positive Family and Parent Relationships Decrease the Odds of Problem Substance Use for Sexual Minority Adolescents in British Columbia (#3) Are Family Relationships of Canadian Transgender Youth Similar to Those of Cisgender Youth in British Columbia? (#4) Challenges of Being a Sexual Minority Teen Parent: Does Sexual Orientation Matter? "

Challenges to Child Custody Experienced by Parents With Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming Children

Presented by: Katherine A. Kuvalanka, Ph.D., Abbie E. Goldberg, Ph.D.; Jenifer K. McGuire, Ph.D.; Asaf Orr, Esq.

We will share findings from the pilot phase of our longitudinal study with parents who have been through or are currently in the middle of custody disputes pertaining to disagreements over how to approach the gender identities and expressions of their transgender and gender-nonconforming children. Two goals of this study are to shed light upon: (a) the challenges parents face when aiming to affirm their children's gender variance in a society that stigmatizes transgender identities and gender nonconformity, and (b) the potential implications for children who may be forced to alter their gender expression depending upon with which parent they currently reside.