In its August issue, Family Circle magazine features its first family with a transgender son (Penel, in blue). (Photo: Ben Hoffmann for Family Circle Magazine)

For the first time in its 83-year history, Family Circle magazine is featuring a set of parents with their transgender child in its pages.

The magazine, which boasts a readership of 18 million, has been running a monthly column called “Modern Life” for the past year. The August issue, which hit stands on Wednesday, features Jodie Patterson and her partner Joseph Ghartey with their 7-year-old transgender son, Penel, one of the family’s five children. “We had to take the time to learn. It’s been an eye-opening experience that’s given all of us a better understanding of the world,” Patterson says in the story about raising Penel. “I’m just starting to comprehend ‘identity’ in its true meaning.”

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Just last year, Family Circle faced backlash when it ran a “Modern Life” column featuring a family with two dads, and the reaction to this story has been similar. “Final straw! Canceling my subscription after many years,” wrote one long-time reader when the magazine posted the column on its Facebook page. “Kids don’t know what they want for breakfast, why are we letting them change their sex?” asked another. One reader even called the article “wrong on so many levels.”

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Suzanne Rust, lifestyle editor at Family Circle and the author of this month’s column, says she isn’t surprised that there have been negative comments, but she’s not deterred by them, either. “We knew it was going to cause some stir,” she tells Yahoo Parenting. “A lot of people associate us with a traditional family magazine, and we are, but we are a modern traditional family magazine, and that means our goal is to reflect all families.”

The intention of the “Modern Life” column, Rust says, is to tell “real stories about real people,” and to enlighten readers. “The concept of having a transgender child is confusing and complicated for some readers, but when you present a loving family like this, my hope is to educate,” she says. “We want readers to see how loving this family is so we can all have a little more understanding about what it means to have a transgender child.”

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And the reaction hasn’t been all negative. “We’ve gotten nice emails saying ‘this is not my mother’s Family Circle,’” Rust says. And mixed in with the outrage online are messages of support, like this one: “Why shouldn’t Family Circle do a story about a family adjusting to a new norm for them? I think Penel is a very lucky young person to have such a wonderful support system.” Another user chimed in, “God made us exactly who we are for a reason. Changing our sex doesn’t change our heart, mentality, intellectual capacity or the world around us.”

The portrayal of a family that is supportive of a transgender child is important not just for readers who are unfamiliar with the LGBT community, but also for readers who see themselves in Penel and his parents and siblings. “It’s important for children and youth who are transgender to see themselves reflected back in the world,” Pamela Wool, director of family services and administration at the support organization Gender Spectrum, tells Yahoo Parenting. “It’s also important for parents [of transgender children] to see that their families are not the only ones, for them to have a model of a family who supports their child and that [the] child is thriving and having a good life.”

Rust says she’s proud to showcase how Family Circle has changed. “We want to be honest and relevant and keep things current and reflective of the times,” she says. “We want our readers to evolve with us. These are beautiful stories of beautiful families.”

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