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AI Usage Disclosure: Jenn Burleton utilized ChatGPT 5.2 to generate initial historical and chronological context and content, as well as to summarize background literature, during the preparation of this work. The AI-generated content was reviewed, edited, and verified by the author, who takes full responsibility for the final content and accuracy of this publication.
No confidential or protected data was input into the AI tool.
AI prompt (January 3, 2026): “What is the oldest known record of human gender diverse identity or expression?”
AI prompt (January 3, 2026): “When did modern support and advocacy for gender-diverse adults and children begin?”
Modern support and advocacy for gender-diverse adults began in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with organized scientific and legal defense, most notably through Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Science (1919–1933). Mass public and grassroots civil rights advocacy emerged between the 1950s and 1970s.
In contrast, modern, organized, cisgender parent-led support for gender-diverse children and their families did not emerge until the mid-1990s, with the 1995 formation of Mermaids in the United Kingdom.
Sustained, trans-led youth and family advocacy only emerged in the mid-2000s.
AI prompt (January 3, 2026):
“What was the first organization led by a transgender person to advocate for trans children, youth, and their families?“
“The earliest known organization led by a transgender person whose explicit mission was advocacy and support for transgender children, youth, and their families is TransActive Education & Advocacy.”
These are contextual excerpts from the transcript of a September 4, 2006, online meeting of three of the original co-founders of what was then called the Trans Kids Political Action Committee (TKPAC). Shortly thereafter, TKPAC was renamed Trans Youth Family Advocates (TYFA). The fourth co-founder, Shannon Garcia, was not present for this meeting.
The three founders present are:
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neogal99: I'm needing this....been a tough week for me.
amyg: You've been doing sooooooooo much, Jenn!!!
neogal99: Amy..thanks. I'm making up for lost time. I'm just doing the things that I desperately wanted someone to do for me when I was a child.
neogal99: Welcome to the first meeting of the TransKidsPAC group!!!!
havasumoma: YEAH!
amyg: YES!
neogal99: In just 4 short days, we've got 12 dedicated, motivated, aggravated members ready to make things better for our kids!
havasumoma: And one very energetic leader.
neogal99: We've got a radio show lined up, 3 possible television shows, and a budding partnership with PFLAG-TNET....not bad for the first half week!
amyg: Definitely!
neogal99: So, first off, you guys [Jenn referring to the co-founding cisgender parents] are my heroines....I just want to say that.
amyg: Thank you for starting this up, Jenn. I don't feel like a heroine--just helping out my child.
neogal99: [responding to Amy's prior comment] To a kid that prayed every night for Moms like you, trust me....heroine is a mild word 🙂
havasumoma: truthfully, i haven't even had an opportunity to check out all the files you [Jenn] have posted thus far, but I, as a mom with a trans kid, am looking for tools for working with the school...in anticipation of problems that may come up.
neogal99: Such as?
havasumoma: I know this is a biggie for most of us parents. Maybe a what to do first, second, third, etc
[At this point, the meeting continued the discussion of what would become early education (teaching) and advocacy tools that Jenn Burleton would construct over the coming months. The transcript picks up after that.]
neogal99: This isn't about how you raise your child, or whether you're a single mother or not....it's about something our children were BORN with...
neogal99: They wouldn't look twice if it was ADHD....but because it's "sex" related, everyone freaks out. It's about misplaced homophobia, IMHO.
neogal99: We need to educate people to NOT treat this differently. It's not "perversion," it's simply a birth variation, and it's REALLY fixable.
havasumoma: i'm pretty good at writing, so if we could flesh out some ideas as a group, i would be willing to plump them up.
neogal99: 🙂 I am too, but I'm GLAD at this point to let someone else take that on!
havasumoma: especially letters to family and friends and school presentations for school
neogal99: Kim....can I delegate you to check that out and maybe [coordinate] with Amy on what TNET already has in place? [Indicates Jenn Burleton's leadership role at this point.]
neogal99: Let's do this. I will create a folder in the FILES section of TKPAC that is "Weekly Conference Call" and then a subfolder for Week 1. In that folder will be the transcript of this call and also any documents that are generated as a result of this call. We can decide where to put them permanently after that, but then we can see what came of this week's discussion. How does that sound?
havasumoma: pretty good.
neogal99: Also, and this will be the hard part. We should see if we can get some examples of letters from folks for whom, perhaps, things haven't gone so well. We need to become EXPERTS on what types of signals freak out the narrow-minded and uninformed.
havasumoma: so true.
neogal99: That is why I brought up my thing about "passing"....I've spent a LIFETIME watching how people react to this stuff...and since I've been (until now) "stealth", I was the fly on the wall.
havasumoma: i think real step-by-step ways of advocating for your child would be so welcome. I know that is what i was looking for...someone to tell me what to do first.
neogal99: Heading OFF objections before they happen should be one of the goals.
neogal99: OK....can we go back to the parenting thing? What if both parents don't agree? This is my biggest concern, because it is the FIRST hurdle that the family has to overcome, and certainly, traumatic for the child (and their siblings).
havasumoma: that's a really big one, jenn. there are so many variables when there has been that kind of split in the family unit.
neogal99: yes, it is. And there is no way to address them all. But the thing I think we should all begin thinking about are the cases where the custodial parent is threatened simply for supporting their child in the [gender variant] identity...regardless of what other family conflict issues are going on.
neogal99: Mothers are frequently losing custody of their [gender variant] children on the sole basis of supporting their diagnosis and their identity.
neogal99: This is where the long-term outreach of this group with PFLAG can work to create change in the legal and social attitudes about this.
amyg: That will be a HUGE undertaking. Definitely many, many baby steps to make a dent in the system/attitude.
neogal99: We can begin to identify potential ALLIES in local government....in county, state, and local agencies. Educating the local Child Welfare services and District Attorney's offices....offering to do seminars at Legal Ethics and Family Law conferences, etc.
neogal99: The problem is, most of the opposing 'experts' are not gender therapists or, really, experts at all. They are, in general, those predisposed to thinking it's about homosexuality and keeping the kids from growing up gay...
neogal99: Let me know if I get too 'fired up' here...I apologize if that happens. 🙂
amyg: You aren't too fired up, Jenn. We need to harness the energy and focus it.
neogal99: Here is a specific: Identify a church, a local politician, a school official, and a community leader that you think might be sympathetic. Then contact each of them and ask if you can send them some information about the challenges facing families with [gender variant] kids. Then ask if you can follow up with them in a couple of weeks to discuss the materials you sent them.
havasumoma: okay, add it to the list. I don't know who those people even are, but i'll see if i can figure it out.
neogal99: Our first opportunity to get media exposure for this is probably going to be the GenderTalk Radio show. I am willing to go on there, I've outted myself big time, so....que sera sera. We should find out who else is willing to discuss [gender variance] and our kids (no names or faces necessary).
havasumoma: i'd want to be sure i was representing TKPAC appropriately...i'm willing to participate in the radio program, but am unsure how i would be helpful...as a newbie do I really have that much to contribute?
neogal99: Well, the main thing is to think about the words you are going to use. "Passing" is a good example. Think about how those who are listening will receive the message. They aren't as informed or educated on this issue as we are...so not speaking in 'shorthand' is a good thing to watch out for.
neogal99: Thanks SO MUCH, you guys!!!!!
amysgreys715: Thank YOU, Jenn!
neogal99: We're off and running!
END OF TRANSCRIPT
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“What was the first all-transgender led transgender child and family organization?”
“The earliest documented organization that both (a) served transgender children and their families and (b) was led entirely by transgender people is TransActive Gender Center (originally TransActive Gender Project), founded in Portland, Oregon, in 2007.”
This combination – trans children + families served, with governance and leadership by trans adults is the critical differentiator.
By 2007, TransActive Education & Advocacy existed as a purpose-built organization serving transgender/gender-diverse children, youth, and their families, and later funder reporting describes it as transgender-founded and led.
TYFA was a pioneering organization founded in 2006 by transgender woman Jenn Burleton, but its co-founders were cisgender parents of trans children and youth. Starting in May 2007, it was led exclusively by cisgender parents.
Modern gender clinics, sometimes called gender identity clinics, date back to the early 1960s and were led almost exclusively by cisheteronormative physicians, psychotherapists, and sex researchers. These clinics served transsexual/transgender adults, with a few treating children, focused primarily on "conversion therapy" models practiced by Richard Green, George Rekers, Joseph Nicolosi, and Kenneth Zucker. This continued until the late 1980s, after which some (not all) clinics began working with increasing numbers of gender diverse children and youth using what became known as the "Dutch Protocol".
In the aftermath of the Stonewall Uprising, LGB Centers (the "T" and "Q" were added later) served a broad scope of sexual orientation-related adult populations. When youth were served, it was primarily teens aged 16 and older. After use of the LGBTQ acronym heightened trans visibility, trans-led services and support became more common, but the focus was still primarily on older teens and adults.
Louise Lawrence began coordinating the first United States-based (underground) support groups for adult crossdressers abd transsexuals in the 1940s. She was later joined in doing this by Virginia Prince, who formed a support network that was geared specifically toward heterosexual crossdressers.
Non-profit organizations like Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) were almost exclusively focused on serving the adult parents and families of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals.
Later, International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE) era local support groups for trans adults became more common, but did not function formally as child-and-family support organizations.