Children of Transitioners is a British personal website maintained by Emma Thomas, the child of a transgender parent. Thomas describes it as a “victim support” project.
Thomas is affiliated with anti-trans hate group Genspect, which says Thomas “writes and campaigns to highlight the lack of safeguarding for children of trans-identified parents.” Thomas is affiliated with other Genspect projects, including Beyond Trans and the Killarney Group.
Background
Emma Thomas was born in around 1970. Thomas was 11 years old when one parent (born in ~1948) began a gender transition at around age 33.
In August 2019, Thomas launched the website. The first blog post said in part:
“For a long time, the last thing I wanted to do was confront my emotions around transgenderism and my father. I have always avoided stories with trans characters. But, for various reasons, this issue has chased me through adulthood and expanded all around me. Now barely a day goes by that transgenderism isnât in the news and another outrageous thing is said and done by a âtrans womanâ that sets my teeth on edge.”
[…] And I want to start with the fact that we have to pretend that itâs OK. Because itâs not just about pleasing your parent, which of course we want to do with all our heart. Thatâs why weâve changed the pronouns. Thatâs why we canât say Daddy any more. Itâs more than that because if you say you are unhappy with whatâs happening you are uncool, a bigot, difficult. Perhaps you are made to feel like you are hurting your parent if you get the language âwrongâ or that you are breaking a special pact. Your personal is also political and you have to be OK about it⊠or other parents wonât get to see their kids perhaps. Or trans people will look bad. Lots of peopleâs feelings rest on you suppressing yours.
At some point, Thomas removed many of the blog posts. In May 2022, Thomas created a Twitter account ChildrenOfTrans.
The website included personal stories from others in similar family situations. It also has a section titled “autogynephilia,” a controversial diagnosis used by anti-trans activists to attack trans women. Thomas cites “autogynephilia” activists Ray Blanchard, J. Michael Bailey, Debra Soh, Jennifer Bilek, “Kiira Triea,” Anne Lawrence, and Miranda Yardley.
The Children of Transitioners site recommends several resources:
- Trans Widows Voices
- 4th Wave Now anti-trans site by unaccepting parent Denise Caignon
- The âTrans Widowsâ thread on anti-trans forum Mumsnet
- “The Psychological Effect on Wives and Partners of Transsexuals,” by Diana Aithison from Women of the Beaumont Society, presented at the 1998 Gendys Conference (posted by unaccepting parent Tish Naughton)
- A TEDx talk by “Sharon Thrace” (aka “trans widow” Shae Ramsey)
- COLAGE’s “People with Trans Parents” resource list [archive], noting that “Colage is very pro-trans, so please beware that it has a particular agenda.”
- Children of the Self-Absorbed: A Grown-Up’s Guide to Getting Over Narcissistic Parents, a book by Nina W. Brown
- “Conservative Men in Conservative Dresses: The World of CrossDressers Is for the Most Part a World of Traditional Men, Traditional Marriages, and Truths Turned Inside Out.” Article written by Amy Bloom in 2022 for The Atlantic
2026 Amnesty International UK reports
In 2026, Amnesty International UK released two reports which listed Children of Transitioners as a “gender critical” site and characterized it as “anti-rights”:
- “Like a Snowball: The Growth and Impact of the Gender Critical Movement in the UK” (May 2026)
- âA Growing Threat â the Anti-Rights Movement in the UK.â (July 2026)
In response, Children of Transitioners and Trans Widows Voices sent a joint letter of complaint that states in part:
Children of Transitioners exists to support the children of parents who identify as transgender. One of the issues we have raised is the impact on children when they are pressured to suppress or deny their own beliefs, relationships or experiences in order to affirm a parent’s gender identity. A number of legal claims seeking to establish a right to compel such affirmation have been rejected by the courts. Yet throughout these developments Amnesty International has never sought to engage with, or publicly acknowledge, the experiences and human rights concerns of the children we exist to support.
[…] The inclusion of small, grassroots victim-support organisations such as ours within a report describing an “anti-rights” movement risks serious reputational harm, may deter vulnerable women and children from seeking support, and creates the impression that the experiences and human rights of the people we support have been discounted. Given that neither organisation was contacted and no organisation-specific evidence has been published, we ask why Amnesty International has chosen to publicly characterise victim-support organisations in this way.
[…] We hope Amnesty will recognise that organisations supporting vulnerable women and children should not be publicly associated with an “anti-rights” movement without transparent evidence and a fair opportunity to respond.
Accordingly, we ask Amnesty International UK to:
- conduct an urgent review of the inclusion of our organisations in these reports;
- remove Children of Transitioners and Trans Widows Voices from the reports if that inclusion cannot be properly evidenced;
- publish an appropriate correction and public apology for the harm caused by our inclusion; and
- provide a substantive written response addressing the issues raised in this letter.
References
Staff report (July 2026). A Growing Threat â the Anti-Rights Movement in the UK. Amnesty International UK original url https://www.amnesty.org.uk/knowledge-hub/all-resources/report-a-growing-threat-the-anti-rights-movement-in-the-uk-july-2026/ backup https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UggI-VPSk7uWpw4xIWS2lua3x-rF2A8T/view
Staff report (May 21, 2026). Report: Like a Snowball: the Growth and Impact of the Gender Critical Movement in the UK. Amnesty International UK https://media.amnesty.org.uk/documents/Like_a_snowball_final_.pdf
Selected writing by Children of Transitioners
Children of Transitioners and Trans Widows Voices (July 11, 2026). Complaint to Amnesty International Chief Executive Kerry Moscogiuri. https://x.com/transwidows/status/2076253468746985655
Thomas, Emma (May 10, 2021). Stop Using Us As Props. Children of Transitioners https://childrenoftransitioners.org/stop-using-us-as-props/
Thomas, Emma (January 24, 2021). The Abusive Autogynephile. Children of Transitioners https://childrenoftransitioners.org/the-abusive-autogynephile/
Thomas, Emma (December 11, 2020). The Autogynephile in the Room. Children of Transitioners https://childrenoftransitioners.org/the-autogynephile-in-the-room/
Thomas, Emma (August 9, 2019). On the pressure to pretend that itâs all OK. Children of Transitioners https://childrenoftransitioners.org/2019/08/09/on-the-pressure-to-pretend-that-its-all-ok/ [archive]
Media
Genspect with Emma Thomas of Children of Transitioners (January 29, 2025). My Father Announced He Was a Transsexual When I Was 11 – Emma Thomas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrN3whF1Z58
See also
Resources
Children of Transitioners (childrenoftransitioners.org)
X/Twitter (x.com)