Knowledge is Power: Trans Young People's Perceptions of Parental Reactions to Their Gender Identity, and Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Parental Support

Parental support is strongly correlated with protective factors for trans youth, however, most experience unsupportive parental attitudes. We aimed to better understand how youth perceive parental reactions to their gender identity disclosure and what they consider to be barriers to, and facilitators of, support. We qualitatively explored primary themes in semi-structured interviews (N = 14). Participants described a spectrum of initial parental reactions ranging from rejection to unconditional support. Barriers included lack of knowledge of gender diversity and parental isolation, stigma, and fear. Powerful facilitators included good-quality information, peer connection, and exposure to positive trans representation. Importantly, these facilitators commonly impacted positively upon initially unsupportive stances over time. Several implications are highlighted, particularly the pressing need for easily accessible, good-quality information, and exposure to peer support and positive trans representation.