So your child sits you down to tell you that he identifies as something other than heterosexual or cisgender (meaning one’s gender identity is the same as the biological gender of one’s birth, i.e. someone born with a vagina who identifies as female). Perhaps you’ve always expected that your son was gay, or maybe your daughter didn’t really want to be your daughter, she wanted to be your son, but this never really became a reality until that moment when you’re sitting in the living room across from your nervous child. This is such an important moment in your teenager’s life, in your life, and in the life of your relationship with your child. With it come many different emotions: fear, excitement, and a whole lot of worry.

Covering transgender people, including those making the very personal decision to transition, can be challenging for reporters unfamiliar with the LGBTQ community, and, in particular, the increasingly visible transgender community.

This guide from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, is intended to serve as a primer, a starting point for reporters committed to telling the stories of transgender people accurately and humanely, from appropriate word usage to context that reflects the reality of their lived experience.