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 talk is about 45 minutes followed by a dessert reception and discussion.
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This event is co-sponsored by UUFN, Delaware United, and Equality Delaware.
About Joan Rater
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.
The husband and wife team enjoyed a successful Off-Broadway run with their stage play GOOD WILL at The Director’s Company in 1998, and The New York Times gave it a rave review, hailing it as “touching and thought- provoking.”
Rater also writes and performs short pieces about being a parent, one of which, The Long Hug, was published in a collection called Afterbirth, Stories You Won’t Read in a Parenting Magazine.
Joan is an alum of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
She lives in Pasadena with Tony, daughter Sally, and their dogs, Reggie and Lola.