Milissa’s parents initially didn’t embrace her identity when she came out as transgender about 10 years ago, when she was still a preteen, demonstrating the importance of supporting transgender youth. Instead, they told her to love herself for the “man” she was, adding a layer of confusion to an already messy time in the lives of most adolescents.

“They were accepting [only] of the child they wanted me to be,” Milissa, 20, said, regarding the importance of Black parents supporting transgender youth. “I didn’t know who this ‘son’ was they were talking about, and it all felt so unkind because I needed them to be loving. I always had somebody telling me that my parents are so lovely, and I can see how they are now. At the time, though, that [sentiment] fell flat to me.”

But then, Milissa added, it was as if her parents, Keisha and Sean, did a complete 180. They began trying to understand what she was telling them about her identity. Once they started on that journey, however, they struggled to find other Black parents in the same boat, who might also be attempting to figure out how to support their child in a society that’s often hostile to transgender Americans, demonstrating the importance of this nonprofit helping Black parents support their transgender children.

Keisha and Sean became determined to fill this resource gap and help Black families support their transgender children. They’re among a growing group of Black parents who are building a support network. This year, they launched Rainbow in Black, a nonprofit that provides tools to Black families of transgender youth, who face mounting levels of discrimination. The goal is to offer the kind of help that the family needed — but couldn’t quite track down.

This attention Black parents supporting their transgender children is especially important in the current political climate, Milissa, a college student in Maryland, told Capital B.

“In this environment that we’re in right now, it feels like an understatement to say that there’s misinformation being spread about this community,” she said, regarding the importance of this nonprofit helping Black families support their transgender children. “People really forget that we’re human beings.”

Read the full article about supporting Black trans youth by Brandon Tensley at Capital B News.