When something happens with your kid, you don’t have time to become an expert overnight.
Your kid’s school called an “emergency meeting” and won’t say why. A relative said something at dinner and now nobody’s speaking. Your state just passed a new law and you don’t know yet if it touches your family. Your kid came out three days ago and you don’t even know what the first question should be.
You don’t have time to spend the next six hours parsing legislative text or scrolling old Facebook threads hoping someone already lived through exactly this.
I already have.
For over a decade, this has been the specific work I do: not adjacent to it, not studied from the outside. I’ve sat in the hearings, sat across from the superintendent, and sat at my own family’s version of that same table.
What this is
Think of it like hiring a patient advocate, but for parenting a transgender kid: someone who knows the systems (schools, courts, legislatures, medical providers) well enough to help you walk in with a plan instead of hoping for the best. It’s specific, situational, and built around whatever you’re facing right now.
What this isn’t
It isn’t therapy. It isn’t crisis counseling. It isn’t general parenting coaching, and it isn’t legal representation. If your situation needs clinical, medical, or legal expertise, I’ll tell you directly and help you find the right kind of professional.
About the cost
I know there’s something uncomfortable about paying for help in a community that mostly runs on people showing up for each other for free. I feel that too, honestly.
Here’s where I’ve landed: free information and support (my regular social media posts, the Debi Downer Substack, showing up in support-group threads) isn’t going anywhere. This ‘Navigating Forward’ service exists for when you want more than a few sentences in a comment thread: my full attention, on your specific situation, for as long as it takes to actually get you somewhere.
How it works
Start with one 75-minute session. No subscription, no continuing commitment. We get into exactly what you’re facing and leave with a real plan. If it’s useful, you can choose to stay connected month-to-month for the moments that come up between the big ones. If it’s not what you needed, that’s fine, too. The door closes as easily as it opened.
- 1
Book your Strategy Session
Reserve your 75-minute call (video or audio, whichever you’re more comfortable with) and complete payment.
- 2
Tell me what’s going on
After booking, you’ll get a short intake form. It takes about ten minutes, and it means our call starts with your specific situation instead of the basics. Share only what you’re comfortable sharing.
- 3
Have the call
We get into the specifics and leave with a concrete plan.
- 4
Decide if you want to continue
If ongoing access to support feels right, I’ll walk you through enrolling and get you connected on Signal. You can enroll in Ongoing Access here any time after your session. Message me as things come up (before that school meeting, after that call with a relative, when a new bill drops in your state) and I’ll respond with the same depth I’d bring to a live call, on a schedule that’s sustainable on both ends and works despite different time zones.
Ongoing Access
$150 / month
Optional. Starts after your session. Cancel anytime.
Who’s on the other end
I’m Debi Jackson: the parent of a transgender child — and for more than a decade — the person other parents call when they hit a wall like this one.
It started in 2014, when a speech I gave about my child Avery’s transition at age 4 went viral. Avery later appeared on the cover of National Geographic Magazine’s “Gender Revolution” issue, which brought global visibility and intense backlash. I’ve been fortunate to work with families, educators, and policymakers around the world, and am a founding member of the Human Rights Campaign’s Parents for Transgender Equality Council. Some of my other work includes:
- Speaking and leading workshops at events hosted by WPATH, the White House, the National Education Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics
- Facilitating trainings for law enforcement and school resource officers through the U.S. Department of Justice
- Developing LGBTQ+ training materials for the NEA, and receiving its LGBTQ+ Caucus Role Model Award
- Messaging on policy and legislation in communications roles with Equality Texas and the Human Rights Campaign
- Appearing with my family in HBO’s Transhood, and consulting on an Emmy Award-winning ACLU documentary about transgender children
This isn’t theoretical for me, and it won’t be for you either.
Safety and privacy
If you’re bringing your family’s situation to someone, you deserve to know exactly how that information is handled. Here’s the plain-language version.
How we communicate
Ongoing Access happens over Signal, an end-to-end encrypted messaging app. That means our messages can be read only by the two of us. You’ll reach me by username, not phone number, and I’ll do the same, so neither of us has to hand over a personal number. Messages also live on our devices, so if someone in your household can get into your phone, lock it and consider using Signal’s screen lock.
What this is, and isn’t
This is advocacy-informed guidance grounded in years of hands-on experience: not therapy, not medical advice, and not legal counsel. I’m not a licensed therapist, physician, or attorney, and nothing here should be treated as a substitute for one. If your situation calls for clinical, medical, or legal expertise, I’ll tell you directly and help you find the right kind of professional.
A note on confidentiality
I treat what you share with me as private, and I don’t discuss client situations with anyone else. That said, this isn’t a legally privileged relationship the way a conversation with a licensed therapist or attorney is. If I ever become seriously concerned about immediate safety, yours or your child’s, my first priority will be helping you connect with the right emergency resources.
If you’re in crisis right now
This service isn’t built for real-time emergencies. If you or your child are in immediate danger, please contact 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386, or your local emergency services.
Questions
If there are no scheduled calls, how do I actually get help?
After your Strategy Session, you’ll have a private Signal channel to message me directly: text, voice note, or short video, whatever’s easiest in the moment. I respond within posted response windows. Not instantly, but not on a monthly delay either.
What if I have something urgent, like a school meeting in two days?
This is exactly the situation Ongoing Access is built for. You don’t have to wait for a scheduled call. Message me what’s coming up, and I’ll get you what you need before it happens, within my response window.
What if I message and you’re not available?
I’ll always tell you in advance if I’m going to be away longer than my normal response window (traveling, deep in a writing project, or otherwise off-grid) so you’re never left wondering.
Is this therapy or counseling?
No. I’m not a licensed therapist, and this isn’t a substitute for one. This is practical, experience-based guidance on navigating schools, family, healthcare systems, and legislation. If what you’re dealing with needs clinical support, I’ll say so and help you find it.
Is this legal advice?
No. I’m not an attorney. I can help you understand the legislative landscape and communicate effectively, but anything requiring formal legal representation needs a licensed attorney. I’m glad to help you think through when that’s the case.
How is this different from what you already share in support groups for free?
Support groups are where I share what I can in the margins of my day, for everyone in the thread at once. This is your specific situation, with my full attention, and the ability to come back to me again as things develop.
Do you offer group calls?
Not yet. If enough people in Ongoing Access want a live monthly group space, I’ll build one in, but I’d rather be honest that it isn’t available right now than promise a date I can’t guarantee.
What app do we use, and is it private?
Signal, an end-to-end encrypted messaging app already trusted by a lot of people in this community for exactly this reason. More detail is in the Safety and privacy section above.
Can I cancel Ongoing Access anytime?
Yes. It’s month-to-month with no long-term contract.
I just want the one-time call, not the ongoing piece. Is that okay?
Completely. The Strategy Session stands on its own if that’s all you need right now.
Walk into the next meeting with a plan.
One 75-minute session. $175, one time, no ongoing commitment.