Joan Rater presents “Transforming My Family”

Transforming My Family is TV writer Joan Rater’s frank and humorous talk about having a trans son and her family’s journey to understanding, acceptance and ultimately a kind of grace that made them all closer and stronger. Her goal in sharing her experience is to educate people on transgender identity as well as discuss her struggles for more transgender visibility on TV. The “2015 U.S. Transgender Survey,” published by The National Center for Transgender Equality reports on the comprehensive challenges facing transgender people, including economic hardship; discrimination, violence, and mistreatment; and negative physical and mental health effects. For example, 54 percent of transgender students reported being verbally harassed, and 24 percent of students reported being physically attacked for the same reason. According to GLAAD, an organization committed to “rewrite(ing) the script for LGBTQ acceptance,” we all have an opportunity to change the culture for the LGBTQ community by encouraging dialogue that leads to this change. After joining “Grey’s Anatomy” as a writing team at the start of Season 2, Joan Rater and husband Tony Phelan rose through the ranks and co-ran the show alongside creator Shonda Rhimes for Seasons 7 through 10. For their work on “Grey’s Anatomy” they earned a WGA Award for Best New Series in Television in 2005 and were nominated for two Emmy Awards in 2006 and 2007, both for “Outstanding Drama Series.” Other television writing credits include “Law & Order: Trial By Jury,” “Push, Nevada,” “Threat Matrix,” “MDs,” “Haunting Sarah,” “Fling” and “Cover Me.” In 2014, Joan and Tony signed an overall deal with CBS Television Studios and served as consulting producers on “Madam Secretary.” Last season they created “Doubt,” which premiered on CBS Wednesday, February 15th 2017 and ran thirteen episodes.