Charis Circle hosts four groups for trans and gender creative people and their families. Please visit our monthly calendar page to register for the virtual groups. No registration necessary for the in-person group. If you have questions about any of the groups, please email eranderson@chariscircle.org.
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to support our work with trans and gender non-conforming kids, teens, adults, and families, please do so here.
For Teens:
Q/T Youth Board Game Meetup--Every second and fourth Monday of every month at Charis. 4-4:30 drop-off games 4:30-6:30pm. No registration required.
Charis Circle presents a free Q/T Youth Board Game meetup at Charis Books and More! Join us to play table-top board games and have some casual social time from 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm on the second and fourth Mondays of every month. Teens are invited to arrive between 4-4:30 pm and games will begin at 4:30 pm. The space is supported by licensed therapists and is intentionally oriented to provide a safe and affirming destination for teens 12-17 years old who identify as trans, non-binary, gender-queer, or questioning. Masks will be required; there will be a common shared outdoor snack break around 5:00 pm. Charis is a drug, alcohol, and smoke-free space. The space is hosted by licensed therapists Ryan Patrick, LCSW, Mick Rehrig, LCSW & Tristin Chipman, LCSW.
Trans and Friends Youth Group-- Every First and Third Monday on zoom, 7-8pm. Free registration required monthly.
This is a group for 12-18-year-old trans*people, people questioning their own gender, and aspiring allies. We provide an adult facilitated space to discuss gender, relevant resources, and activism around social issues. Whether silently or aloud, please come ready to consider your own gender in a transient world.
For Adults:
Trans and Friends Adult Group-- Every First and Third Monday on zoom, 8-9pm. Free registration required monthly.
This is a group for people 18+ and is welcoming to people who are in any stage of their journey including people who are in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond, who are questioning their gender or just now coming out as trans in adulthood. The space is open to aspiring allies, spouses, and partners as well as long as they are open to considering their own genders as much if not more than the gender of the trans people in their lives. We provide a facilitated space to discuss gender, relevant resources, and activism around social issues. Whether silently or aloud, please come ready to consider your own gender in a transient world.
The Gender Creative Parenting Collective--First Wednesday of every month on zoom, 7-8:30pm. Free registration required monthly.
This group is designed to support the ongoing development of parents and educators of self-identified genderqueer and/or trans children, teens, or young adults, as well as children who are “gender creative,” gender non-conforming, or who express themselves in ways that society deems non-normative. The aim of this group is to offer parents tools to unlearn and dismantle homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny within their family structures, their schools, neighborhoods and faith communities so that they may better support their children and all children. This group assumes best intent (we are all here to learn and grow and make mistakes), takes an intersectional feminist approach (we all live at the intersection of multiple identities), and affirms the dignity and unique gifts of gender creative children. The group is facilitated by Charis Circle Executive Director, E.R. Anderson and Tristin Chipman, a Decatur therapist and social worker who specializes in gender-affirming care for young people.
Booklists:
Books for Parents of Trans and Gender Creative Children/Teens
Transgender/Gender Diversity for Children
LGBTQI Family Books for Teens and Middle Grades
LGBTQI Fiction/Non-Fiction for Teens
Sexuality and Development for Adolescents/Teens
Sexuality and Development for Children
LBGTQI Non-Fiction & Queer Studies
Other Resources: