Nicholas Teich Explains Transgender 101 on the Huffington Post

“When writing the book, I thought about the following: if you were sitting in a room with me, and I was explaining what “transgender” means in the simplest terms possible, what would I say?”
— Nicholas Teich

In an article and slideshow posted today on the Huffington Post, Nicholas Teich, author of Transgender 101: A Simple Guide to a Complex Issue, explained the story behind Transgender 101 and lays out “15 essential things to know” about what “transgender” really means. Teich claims that experiences dealing with parents learning their child is transgender provided the impetus for the book:

Because I run a camp for transgender youth, Camp Aranu’tiq, I end up interfacing with parents soon after they have found out that their child is transgender. These parents are looking for resources for not only themselves but their family and friends. In my effort to help these parents find solid answers to the questions they face, I searched for resources. Most of the literature I came across was geared specifically toward helping professionals who already have a baseline understanding of transgenderism. Therefore, I decided it was time to write a book that could be used by parents, teachers, family, friends, professionals, and students alike.

In the final slide of the slideshow, Teich takes on the pressing issue of bullying in American schools:

In America we have seen that teenage suicide because of bullying has reached epidemic proportions. Many of these kids are LGBT, and most of them are taunted due to some component of their gender expression. I hope that you will talk to others about what you have learned about transgenderism. No one should have to suffer because of who he or she is, but we know that reality tells us differently. People have been bullied and persecuted for who they are since the dawn of time. But we are not defenseless. The more education that is out there about what is means to be different, the better.