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Boy Or Girl: Who Gets To Decide: Gender-Nonconforming Children In Child Custody Cases, David Alan Perkiss

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

Transgender youth, especially those in families that express rejecting behavior, are at great risk for physical and psychological harms that can be alleviated by the support of family. However, when separated parents disagree about whether to support their gender-nonconforming children in their felt genders, especially as more transgender youth come out at earlier ages, disagreements between the parents leads to harm for the child as well as renewed custody challenges. This disagreement was adjudicated in the custody dispute Smith v. Smith. This Article analyzes Smith and applies to cases involving gender-nonconforming children, regardless of a court's finding of gender identity …