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About the Work of Gender Diversity

The lives of trans and gender diverse people in societies around the world have been both rich and varied and hidden and persecuted.  These disparate experiences can and do coexist.  History will reflect that we are living in a time of increasing understanding, volatile change, confusion, and resistance to change that President Joe Biden, in 2012, referred to as “the civil rights issue of our time”.  The work of Gender Diversity – spanning over two decades – has provided tens of thousands of individuals and their families with balance and hope during this time of upheaval.

The work of Gender Diversity is a labor of love, and one that centers compassion for those within our communities, our supporters striving to make change, and for those struggling to understand as we find the optimal pathway forward.  Under the guidance of founder Aidan Key, the work of Gender Diversity has and continues to shape worldwide conversations and social change.

Trans Children Book
2023: authored the ground-breaking book Trans Children in Today’s Schools published by Oxford University Press
2021: Gender Diversity developed the Gender Diverse Youth Sport Inclusivity Toolkit in partnership with Washington Interscholastic Activities Association
2021: Aidan delivered a TEDx Talk titled “The Heart of the Matter” for the University of Washington.
2018: created TransFamilies.org, a national support program for families of gender diverse children
2016-2021: Gender Diversity served as co-chair of the Seattle Children’s Adolescent Gender Clinic
2016: Gender Diversity’s work in schools is featured in the award-winning documentary The Most Dangerous Year
2015: helped launch the Trans Youth Project, the first large-scale, national, longitudinal study of socially-transitioned transgender children.
2014: Aidan contributed chapter on trans children to 1st edition anthology Trans Bodies, Trans Selves
2013: co-drafted the WA State School Directors Association’s model policy on gender inclusion governing K-12 Students
2009: Aidan Key appointed to City of Seattle Commission on Sexual Minorities
2007: Gender Diversity began educational offerings for pre-K-12 schools and other youth serving-organizations
2007: produced first Gender Odyssey Family and Professionals conference – the first programming of its kind in the nation
2007: co-founded GenderSpectrum.org
2007: co-authored the nation’s first K-12 gender inclusion policy in sports in partnership with the Washington State Interscholastic Activities Association
2006: co-founded Translations, the nation’s first transgender film festival
2006: produced the nation’s first citywide Transgender Awareness Week in Seattle
2001: produced the first international Gender Odyssey Conference
2001: Aidan and his sister Brenda served as the impetus for international sex and gender researcher Milton Diamond’s ground-breaking study on gender identity concordance in identical twins
1998-99: created two city-wide public discussions, Transcending Gender and Digging Deeper, bringing discussions of gender identity to the Seattle LGB community for the first time
1981: As a high school student, Aidan successfully challenged his school district in Alaska to provide equal funding to girls’ teams in accordance with Title IX

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