“We’ll Accept Anything, as Long as She Is Okay”: Italian Parents’ Narratives of Their Transgender Children’s Coming-out

Abstract

The aim of the study was to explore the experiences and representations of Italian parents of TGE (Transgender and Gender-Expansive) adolescents diagnosed with gender dysphoria who, for the first time, attended a gender clinic for psychological consultation. This study presents findings from fifteen parents of TGE adolescents, mostly (93%) trans boys, aged 14–19. The analysis identified four main themes: Gender Dysphoria: Something Impossible to Understand, Resigned Acceptance, Strategies of social acceptance in a complex context and The Limits of Healthcare Services. Results are discussed in the light of a highly transphobic social and cultural context.

Keywords:

• LGBTQ
• parenting
• qualitative
• medical transition
• transgender

Notes

1 Law of 14 April 1982, no. 164, Provisions concerning the rectification of sex attribution (Norme in materia di rettificazione di attribuzione di sesso), Article 3, http://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:legge:1982-04-14;164, in Italian, accessed 16 February 2021.

2 All names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of participants and their children.