I Am. I Am. I Am. (w/ J.R. & Vanessa Ford)

About this Episode

ABOUT THIS EPISODE
My former student Vanessa Ford, and her husband JR, join me to talk about their family's story, and about the experiences of trans youth and their families. Vanessa is a board member for the National Center for Transgender Equality, and JR works for the federal government. They're parents to Ronnie and his younger sister Ellie (who is transgender), and they're also advocates for trans youth. They've written pieces for Newsweek, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Katie Couric interviewed them. And now I'm lucky that they spoke with me on Tatter.

LINKS
--JR and Vanessa Ford, on Facebook
--"A Massachusetts law protecting transgender people is in danger of being repealed" (a CNN story that includes coverage of the Ford family)
--National Center for Transgender Equality
--"Gender revolution: A journey with Katie Couric" (a National Geographic video program including conversation with the Ford family)
--"Betsy DeVos is a danger to transgender children" (by Vanessa Ford, in Newsweek)
--GLSEN (works to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression)
--"When children say they're trans" (by Jesse Singal, in The Atlantic)
--"The loaded language shaping the trans conversation" (by Tey Meadow, in The Atlantic, and one of several responses to Singal's piece)
--The full set of responses