We scored another victory in the struggle to acknowledge, understand and validate the experiences of trans youth!

The DC Trans Coalition, and dozens of other community organizations, signed on in support of a letter requesting the addition of a question looking at gender identity and trans youth on the next round of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) chiefly administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

We recently received the following e-mail:

On behalf of the organizations that coordinated this effort (Advocates for Youth, GLSEN, GSA Network, The National Coalition for LGBT Health, The Network for LGBT Health Equity and The Trevor Project), I am pleased to let you know that the letter sparked a promising dialogue with the CDC. Following a recent conversation with the CDC, they have agreed to add an optional question on gender identity to the pool of questions in the next round of the YRBS in 2013. I and my colleagues hope you share our excitement in this commitment from the CDC that benefits transgender youth. Moving forward, the next step will be for all of us to advocate within our districts, states, and at the national level to ensure this question is used as widely as possible when the YRBS is administered next in 2013.

It’s nice to have something positive to report every once in awhile.