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Extra Life Celebrates Transgender Day of Visibility

Transgender Day of Visibility is on March 31, 2020. Extra Life’s priorities have always been helping any and all kids who come through the doors of a Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals facility. Over 10 million children come to our hospitals looking for help every year. On Transgender Day of Visibility, we want to recognize that, statistically, at least 60,000 of those kids are transgender. While many of those transgender children and young adults may come for treatment related to cases that have nothing to do with their gender or sexuality, many also come in search of specialized care. Sometimes that means they need just the support of staff who can understand the struggles transgender children and young adults go through, and sometimes that means they need specialized hormone treatment. Transgender kids often need both; kids like Allison. She explained that “Cincinnati Children’s Hospital has impacted my life, both in treating my polycystic kidney disease and through supporting my medical needs as a transgender young woman. ” Check out this video to see more of her story. 

 

The transgender community remains especially susceptible to depression, anxiety, and attempted suicide, problems that manifest acutely in kids and young adults. Hospitals have been slow to step up to serve this vulnerable group of people, which makes places like the Transgender Health Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital incredibly important. The clinic helps kids and young adults from 5-24 years old and even provides counseling services for their families. Doctors and mental health professionals help children and parents navigate the sometimes confusing waters of transition. The goal is to reach a point of supportive understanding and to provide hormone care if necessary. Allison, one of Extra Life’s most prominent ambassadors from 2019 and first transgender ambassador, went through her transition with the help of Cincinnati Children’s Transgender Health Clinic.

Children’s National Health System’s Youth Pride Clinic treats all kinds of cases specific to the LGBTQIA+ community. These include depression, sexually transmitted diseases, and medical assistance for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. The clinic in Washington D.C. treats children and young adults from ages 12-21. While their transgender care focuses on hormone therapy or puberty blockers for questioning teens, they also offer specialized therapy geared toward children as well as family therapy.

The wonderful Extra Life community also contains many transgender folk who pour their hearts out to help the children in their local children’s hospitals. Known for his podcasting skills and liveplay D&D appearances on Rise of the Demigods and Encounter Roleplay, Gnome runs social media for indie tabletop development studio Kobold Press. Extra Life is proud to have the support of an openly trans man who has been playing and fundraising for the kids since 2015.

On a more personal note, Extra Life has been fantastic to work with both professionally and personally as their freelance editor since 2013 and the Vice President of the Extra Life Twin Cities Guild for almost as many years. Between helping to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for my local children’s hospital and writing thousands of articles about gaming and what makes this grassroots community so special, Extra Life gave me an environment where I felt comfortable going public about my transition as a trans woman. Sharing my stories with all of you has been a privilege. For that, I am forever grateful.

Extra Life undoubtedly has one of the best communities in all of gaming. The people who fight for the kids year after year come from all walks of life with different skills and passions. Transgender people who freely give their labor or need help from their local children’s hospitals haven’t had the easiest time in a sometimes harsh world. Extra Life is proud to stand alongside our transgender brothers, sisters, and siblings as we all work for a future where all children can get the help they need to live happily.

Don’t forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!