Stigma Protection. Parents Supporting the Well-being of Transgender/Non-binary Children

This paper aims to reconstruct parents’ actions to protect their transgender/non-binary children from stigma. An analysis of the literature on the subject indicates that family acceptance and support are crucial to the well-being of transgender/non-binary youth, and affirmation of gender identity protects their mental and physical health. The theoretical framework of the research was symbolic interactionism, and empirical data were collected through the narrative interview technique (F. Schütze). The research sample, selected according to the snowball procedure, consisted of cisgender, heterosexual mothers of transgender/non-binary children residing throughout Poland. The 10 autobiographical narrative interviews were subjected to a coding procedure specific to the grounded theory method (K. Charmaz). The empirical data were discussed in reference to the ways in which gender minorities experience stigmatisation. An in-depth analysis of the narrative interviews identified parenting activities focused on their intrapersonal, interpersonal and social dimensions. On this basis, four interrelated stages of the process of protecting transgender/non-binary children from stigma were analytically identified: identity recognition, normalisation, advocacy and allyship.