We are the sum of where we’ve been…and where we’re going
Jenn Burleton
A Transgender Child
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I knew from an early age that the way I experienced my gender did not conform to what the world around me expected. At the time, there was little understanding of that difference and a great deal of intolerance and judgment.
Today, we recognize that transgender, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, and otherwise gender-expansive children, youth, and adults are family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and community leaders.
Self-Advocate/Activist
My work as an advocate began at age 13 when I first tried to share my experience of being a girl with psychology experts (despite all outward perceptions of me as a boy) in 1966.
Coming out at that age, at that time in history did not go well, and I was both shamed and intimidated by those medical professionals (and others) into returning to living in the shadows of an authentic life.
Musician
A few years later I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and after my service ended, I embarked on a career as a professional musician. Thankfully, this exposed me to a far more diverse world than the one I was raised in, and I realized that despite my surface privileges as a white, male-presenting person, my challenges as a trans child and young adult led to a growing empathy for other human and civil rights issues of the time.
Public Advocate and Activist
While civil and human rights related to adult sexual orientation and gender diversity made (limited) incremental progress in American society between 1969-1995, the visibility and approaches to meeting the social justice and healthcare needs of transgender and gender-expansive children and youth remained dramatically antiquated.
This lack of progress (often tragically) impacted the health, and survival of our young, and the well being of their families, our schools, communities, businesses, and society at large.
The 21st Century
From the mid 1960s to 2006, my education and advocacy energy had been focused primarily on advancing my needs, and those of other trans-spectrum adults. In the summer of 2006, I became reconnected to my experiences of isolation, derision, and lack of services as a transgender child through engagement with online communities of parents with trans kids. This inspired me to embark upon something that had never been before.
The Founding of TYFA
As the visionary co-founder of TYFA (Trans Youth Family Advocates) in 2006 [original name TransKids PAC/Family Coalition, and later Trans Youth Family Allies], I’m proud to share that a woman of transgender experience (along with three cisgender mothers of trans kids) initiated the modern advocacy movement for transgender and gender-expansive children, youth, and their families. I left TYFA in April of 2007; and while the organization continued to operate for ten more years, it ceased operations in 2017. My role in the founding of this organization is briefly documented in Andrew Solomon’s award-winning book “Far From The Tree”.
The Founding of TransActive
In 2007 I founded TransActive Education & Advocacy, As the scope of that work expanded to include counseling services for children, youth, and their families, the name changed to TransActive Gender Center. From 2007 to 2018, TransActive played a significant role in advancing access to gender-affirming healthcare, civil rights protections, family-centered services and programming, and professional development education. In 2019, I successfully shepherded TransActive’s shift from an independent, non-profit organization to establishing it as a program of the Center for Community Engagement at Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling, renamed the TransActive Gender Project.
In June of 2024, I made the decision to move on from my leadership role with TransActive Gender Project to establish Burleton Education, an independent provider of education, consultation and public speaking; to increase professional competence and awareness around gender-diverse identity and expression in our children, youth, and adult populations.
I continue my engagement with TransActive Gender Project as an adjunct instructor of the Gender Diversity Certificate Program, independent contractor for professional development training, and volunteer facilitator of the Youth & Family Support Groups.
Consultation available Tuesday and Wednesday 1:30 PM-4:30 PM PST (U.S.)
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