FREE TO BE

A psychiatrist specializing in the mental health of transgender youth offers support, encouragement, and education.

When he was 14, Turban, founding director of the gender psychiatry program at the University of California, San Francisco, witnessed his gun-toting father’s vehement homophobia. As a gay youth, he dressed and behaved in a way that wouldn’t expose his true nature. He has carried that experience with him throughout a career working with gender-diverse youth who don’t “fit into the gender boxes people expected.” The author discusses his visits to clinics designed to help transgender youth, speaking with unhoused young people rejected by their families, and how he integrated support models and protocol from Amsterdam into American clinics. Among many moving personal stories, Turban writes about a New England family and their child, whom they initially perceived was a “cisgender boy with feminine interests” but whose identity evolved into something more complex with the aid of puberty blockers and engaged, compassionate parenting. In other sections, the author pragmatically explores the terminology and real-world language of gender expression, radical enhancements in modern gender science, surgical interventions, and the push by some to identify a “transgender gene.” Turban diligently follows an array of transgender youth whose personal journeys with gender-affirming counseling and medical interventions reflect the real-life struggles and challenges they continue to face in the U.S. Turban insists that societal stigma and divisive gender politics can be quelled with open-minded encouragement and, most importantly, consistent education. Due to his work at UCSF, the author views his subject through both clinical and compassionate lenses. His informative text provides essential encouragement and a proactive, supportive resource for transgender youth, their questioning peers, and anyone in marginalized populations who finds themself lacking support, uplifting stories, and peaceful interconnection.

An insightful, important, and well-researched study on authentic gender expression.