Trans health … who cares?

The origins of this book lie in the emergence of sexology in the late 19th century as learned doctors sought to describe and categorise the deviant behaviour of those who failed to conform to norms of sex and gender.

The origins of this book lie in the emergence of transsexualism in the 20th century as a means by which individuals desiring social and physical transitions from one gender to ‘the other’ could be identified and managed.

The origins of this book lie in the emergence of the trans movement in the 1990s, which sought to redefine and recognise a great range of gender-variant identities and experiences as an aspect of human diversity, rather than as conditions requiring treatment.

The origins of this book lie in the emergence of my own trans identity in the early years of the 21st century, as a lonely teenager reaching out for solace, support, understanding and community on the internet.

The origins of this book lie … in a warm Birmingham meeting room gently devoid of character, in which I sat listening to a talk in March 2009. Spring was (in theory) just around the corner, but that wasn't apparent on this overcast day, with its blustery wind and occasional showers of rain. I was attending a seminar entitled ‘LGBT Health … Who Cares?’ as a representative of internet-based advocacy and support group Trans Youth Network.1 The short walk to the seminar venue from the train station had been somewhat challenging; I was in the latter months of a gruelling recovery from surgery undertaken the previous summer, in what I imagined at the time to be the final stage of my long transition from ‘male’ to ‘female’.

I sat through numerous fascinating presentations on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans) health that day, delivered variously by practitioners, social researchers and community activists. What played on my mind after the event, however, was not any particular item of information I had picked up.