PUBLICATIONS

Beyond Gender-Neutral Parenting: Raising Theybies, Routledge, 2026

Dr. Chesnut’s debut book Beyond Gender-Neutral Parenting: Raising Theybies examines the emerging practice of ‘theyby’ parenting, also known as ‘gender-open’ or ‘gender-creative’ parenting, in which parents refuse to assign gender to infants and use they/them pronouns as placeholders until children can self-identify.

Drawing on qualitative interviews with 24 theyby parents, the book explores how aspirations for theyby parenting are enacted in everyday life as children move from preverbal infancy into their early years of primary school. It traces parents’ beliefs, challenges, and strategies across home, education, and wider social contexts, offering an insider-researcher perspective grounded in the author’s own nonbinary and trans experiences. The analysis highlights both the structural constraints theyby parents face and the possibilities for social change generated through this dynamic parenting approach.

This book is ideal for postgraduate students, researchers, educators, and professionals in childhood studies, gender studies, trans studies, sociology, and education, as well as feminist and trans-affirmative parenting organizations.

Teaching about Gender Diversity: Teacher-Tested Lesson Plans for K-12 Classrooms, edited by Professors Susan Woolley and Lee Airton, Canadian Scholars Press, 2020

Three lesson plans include: “Constructing an Equitable Society,” “Pronoun Challenge,” “Cultures of Gender.” 

The Liminal Chrysalis: Imagining Reproduction and Parenting Futures Beyond the Binary, edited by A.J Lowik and Kori Doty. Demeter Press, 2020

Love the Sinner Curriculum Writer, 2018

Wrote high school discussion guide and lesson plans for short documentary (Tribeca Film Festival 2017), by Jessica Devaney and Geeta Gandbhir, on exploring the role of homophobia in the evangelical church in Florida after the shooting at Pulse nightclub, for use in GSAs and ELA classes. 

Conducted outreach to include lesson plan in national trainings and distribution to teachers through GLSEN and Teach for America.

Gavin Grimm VS, Discussion Guide, 2018

Wrote discussion guide for short Webby Award winning documentary Gavin Grimm VS. by Nadia Hallgren.