trans awareness training - wordpress.com
TRANSCRIPT
sam-hope.co.uk© Sam Hope
Trans Awareness Training
Sam Hope
“I’m not trapped in my body.I’m trapped in other people’s
perceptions of my body”Source unknown
sam-hope.co.uk© Sam Hope
Sam Hope
• BACP accredited therapist, supervisor and EDI trainer, MA Trauma Studies
• Disabled, neurodivergent, trans, non-binary, ace & bi (they/them)
• Community organiser/volunteer
• Writer, blogger and author: Person-Centred Counselling for Trans and Gender Diverse People
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Housekeeping
Please keep microphone on mute and camera off in the main group – turn on for small group work
Max is in the chat room – they are here to assist
Please use chat to ask questions if you can
10 min Tea break at 12.00, 20 min lunch break at 1.10, finish at 2.20
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House rules
• Oppressive or hate speech will be challenged
• Confidentiality for all present
• Slides are copyright – please do not share
• Language handout is open source and may be shared
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Introductions
• In the chat, please type:
– Your name
– Your pronouns
– Briefly, what you’d like from the session (optional)
– Any access needs I or Max need to know about
Hi I’m Sam
I use they/them pronouns
I’m here to bamboozle you!
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Learning Outcomes
• An understanding of the biopsychosocial underpinning of trans experiences
• Culturally competent language and approaches to working with gender diversity
• Debunking myths and stereotypes• Mental health, trans people and the
minority stress model • What trans clients feed back about helpful
and unhelpful interventions
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Content warning
• Mentions of various kinds of abuse, violence, mental health, mistreatment, oppression and other harm
• You will leave knowing less than you knew when you started – this is deliberate!
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sam-hope.co.uk© Sam Hope
“Biological Sex”D
r C Fin
e(20
10
) Delu
sion
s of G
end
er: Ho
w O
ur M
ind
s, Society, an
d N
euro
sexismC
reate Differen
ce. D
r C Fin
e(20
17
) Testostero
ne R
ex: Un
makin
g the M
yths o
f Ou
r Gen
dered
Min
ds.
Scientific A
me
rican. Sex R
edefin
ed: Th
e Idea o
f 2 Sexes Is O
verly Simp
listic
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This is biology
“Gender”
He MrSirMan
She Ms
Ma’amWoman
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• Strong evidence that gender identity has a “durable biological element1”
• Many-layered experience:– Our internal sense of who we are
– How our brains map onto our bodies
– Which genders we do and do not unconsciously learn from
– How others experience our gender and interact with us
– Varies in intensity from person to person
“Gender identity”1
. End
ocrin
e Society P
ositio
n Statem
en
t
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“Trans”
Any person who experiences incongruence with the gender they were assigned into at birth
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“Gender incongruence”
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What’s your model?
MF
F M
F MNon-binary
Non-binary?
Non-binary
a)
b)
c)
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M
F
Non-binary
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Gender Roles?
Social Orientation?
Embodiment?
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Any Questions? (small groups 5 mins)
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Tea break! 10 mins
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A Little Trans History . . .
• People have lived as the “opposite sex” or in between the sexes throughout the ages and in all cultures – body modification is also seen
• Many cultures have celebrated and supported expressions that today’s global northwest thinks of as “transgender”
• Many countries across the world have legislation recognising non-binary and/or intersex identities
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Indigenous American Two-spirit people
Indian Hijras
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Declassified as a mental illness
Year WHO declassified
Homosexuality 1990
Gender Incongruence
2019
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Gender Recognition Act
• Gender Recognition Act 2004– Allows a trans person to change birth
certificate
– Many people don’t have one
– Trans people can use single sex facilities without one
– Complex administrative process
– Ireland, Malta, Argentina introduced a statutory declaration (“self-ID”) process without problems
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Equality Act 2010• Gender reassignment is a protected characteristic
– “You can be at any stage in the transition process –from proposing to reassign your gender, to undergoing a process to reassign your gender, or having completed it”
• Includes:– Harrassment – making someone feel humiliated,
offended or degraded (e.g deliberate misgendering)– Direct discrimination (e.g “you have to change jobs now
you’ve come out”)– Indirect discrimination (e.g. “we won’t give you paid
time off for treatment despite giving this for other health conditions)
– Exceptions: “A proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”
– Non-binary people are covered by the law
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Lancet Study, 2016
"We found distress and dysfunction were very powerfully predicted by the experiences of social rejection or violence that people had," he said. "But they were not actually predicted by gender incongruence itself.”1
1. Lan
cet stud
y
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Canadian Study
• A 57% drop in attempted suicides when parents are affirming
• A 44 % drop when trans people can access documents to legally recognise their gender
• A 66% drop for trans people who experienced low levels of anti-trans hate
• Suicide rates get lower as trans people get closer to their transition goals
1. C
anad
ian Stu
dy
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Cornell Study• Systematic literature review on the effect of gender
transition on transgender well-being. • 56 studies
– 52 (93%) found that gender transition improves the overall well-being of transgender people
– 4 (7%) report mixed or null findings– no studies concluding that gender transition causes
overall harm.
“This search found a robust international consensus in the peer-reviewed literature that gender transition, including medical treatments such as hormone therapy and surgeries, improves the overall well-being of transgender individuals. The literature also indicates that greater availability of medical and social support for gender transition contributes to better quality of life for those who identify as transgender.”
1. C
orn
ell Stud
y
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Regrets and detransition
• Detransition is rare, contrary to myth
• Usually for safety reasons, non-acceptance, change in transition trajectory, conversion therapy/practices
• The Amsterdam Cohort of Gender Dysphoria Study (1972-2015): 5000 surgical patients, regrets expressed by 0.3-0.6%
1. Th
e Am
sterdam
Co
ho
rt of G
end
er Dysp
ho
ria Stud
y
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Conversion therapy doubles suicide risk
“The findings suggest that lifetime and childhood exposure to GICE [Gender Identity Conversion Efforts] are associated with adverse mental health outcomes in adulthood. These results support policy statements from several professional organizations that have discouraged this practice.”
1. A
ssociatio
n B
etwee
n . . . G
end
er Iden
tity Co
nversio
n Effo
rts and
Psycho
logical D
istress . . .
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Children
• Trans identities are as stable as cis1
• Puberty blockers: established treatment, positive outcomes2
• Allowing social transition is beneficial3
• “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria”/social contagion: clinical evidence does not support these theories4
• Myth: Trans kids are likely to later “desist”/ non-conforming kids get “diagnosed” as trans5
1.
Gen
der C
ogn
ition
in Tran
sgend
er Ch
ildren
2.
You
ng ad
ult p
sycho
logical o
utco
me after p
ub
erty sup
pressio
n an
d gen
der reassign
men
t3
.M
ental H
ealth o
f Transgen
der C
hild
ren W
ho
Are Su
pp
orted
in Th
eir Iden
tities4
.A
critical com
men
tary on
‘rapid
-on
set gend
er dysp
ho
ria’5
.A
critical com
men
tary on
. . . “desistan
ce” theo
ries
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“Trans threat” myths
• Trans women do not pose a greater threat to cis women than other cis women do
• Trans people are not more violent, criminal, or prone to sex offending, nor comparable to cis men’s criminality
• Trans civil rights progresses have not increased risk/ caused problems
1. C
reating a lie: H
ow
trans w
om
en are p
ortrayed
as pred
ators
2. G
end
er Iden
tity No
nd
iscrimin
ation
Laws in
Pu
blic A
ccom
mo
datio
ns: a R
eview o
f Eviden
ce . . .
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© Sam Hope
Differences (like being trans
and autistic) often cluster
together
– this does not imply
causality
1. H
ow
med
icine m
istreats disab
led tran
s peo
ple
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Learning points
• Harm is well evidenced when trans people (including children)– Are denied social transition
– Are subjected to conversion therapy
– Are denied civil rights
– Are denied appropriate, well evidenced healthcare (puberty blockers for <16s)
– Are not respected in their identity
– Are misgendered (wrong name, pronoun, etc)
– Are excluded based on being trans
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What can we do differently?
• Update our language – homework!• Note if we’re resisting using correct pronouns,
name etc. **understand this causes harm**• Do some reflective work on what is blocking
us/how we see trans clients• Correct others when they misgender• Make sure our policies are inclusive• Reject attempts to exclude trans people based
on unevidenced “risk”• Support trans people to access the transition
options they need
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It's so hard for me to get it
right!
I recognise it's hard on you when I get
it wrong
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Affirmative model
• The trans person is the expert on themself • Only they know what is right for them and who
they are• There is nothing less good about being *any
kind* of trans person• There is nothing less good with *any* of the
available transition/non-transition options• No one way to be trans is better than any other• Cis norms, identities and appearances are not
better• More binary or non-binary norms, identities
and appearances are not better
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Lunch – back in 20 mins!
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Small groups work
• What are the issues affecting trans people?
• How might these impact trans people’s mental health?
• How might these create barriers to accessing our services/client relationships?
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Q: What are the issues affecting trans people?
• Social isolation, marginalisation, stigmatisation• Misdiagnosis, pathologisation, gatekeeping• Homelessness/poor housing• Access to services and facilities• Employment issues• Abuse (historical and current)• Poverty• Physical violence including DV and hate crime• Suicide and self harm• Alcohol and substance abuse• Sex work/exploitation• Autism and other co-occurring disability, including
physical disability
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Scottish Trans Study
0%10%
20%30%
40%50%
60%70%
80%
1
2
3
4
Percentage of trans people
1. O
ut o
f sight, o
ut o
f min
d? Tran
sgend
er Peop
le’s Experien
ces of D
om
estic Ab
use
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Suicide Statistics for Trans People1
48%
59% 59%
35%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
trans people
under 26 who have attempted
suicide
trans people
under 26 who have
considered suicide
trans people
under 26 who have
self harmed Overall
number of trans
people who have attempted
suicide
1.
PAC
E The R
aRE
research rep
ort: LG
B&
T men
tal health
2.
No
ttingh
amsh
ire Health
care Men
tal health
survey rep
ort fo
r LGB
T+ p
eop
le
In Nottinghamshire, UK, a 2017 survey showed that 60 per cent of trans respondents had self-harmed and 48 per cent had attempted suicide2
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Just to recap . . .
• Mental health issues correlate to mistreatment and transphobia, not to being trans in itself
• Recognising trans people’s gender legally and socially substantially improves mental health
• Access to medical transition improves mental health
• Conversion therapy is harmful and ineffective
• Suicide rates get lower as trans people get closer to their transition goals
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Trans ChildrenStudies show that:
• Allowing children to socially transition is significantly beneficial
• Gender Identity is as stable in trans kids as in cis
• Conversion therapy (trying to help a child align to their birth assignment) is harmful
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There is a direct connection between:
Supportive, accepting relationships
And
Good psychological, health and material outcomes
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Trans clients feed back
• Out of date and problematic theorising. • Gatekeeping and infantilising• Making unwanted connections• Lack of competence/awareness• Being unaware of the traumatising nature of
transphobia• Problematic attitudes to trans people’s sexuality• Judging whether clients are “trans enough”• Misgendering (esp past self), othering, unskilful
language• Unaware of power imbalance/structural inequality
between cis and trans people
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Some ideas . . .• Broaden knowledge by reading/following diverse
trans voices and reflecting on their words, • Update research evidence, unlearn biases• Respect client autonomy, affirm their self-
experience• All experience is multi-determined, one box will
never work• Develop an understanding of minority stress, bear
witness to trans pain/anger, civil rights struggles• Reflect on how society sexualises and objectifies
trans people and overly focuses on their genitals• Reflect on attitudes and biases to sex/sexuality/sex
work• Accept and use the words and definitions of the
client, for their identity, body parts etc.
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Above all . . .
• Know when to refer a client on
• Understand the limits of your competence
• This training helps you treat trans clients with respect and dignity. It takes many years to become competent to do deep work around gender identity.
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Minority Stress Model, Meyer1
• “LGBs have a higher prevalence of mental disorders than heterosexuals”
• “Stigma, prejudice, and discrimination create a hostile and stressful social environment that causes mental health problems [due to]:– prejudice events, – expectations of rejection, – hiding and concealing, – internalized homophobia, – ameliorative coping processes”
1.
Preju
dice, So
cial Stress, and
Men
tal Health
in Lesb
ian, G
ay, and
Bisexu
al Pop
ulatio
ns
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The web model:A relational approach to minority
stress
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Media demonising
Minority Stress
Health Inequality
PovertyViolence
Discrimination
Services adding to
stress
HarassmentIssues
dismissed as “culture”
Hate Crime
Social Isolation
Poor Housing/
Home-lessness
© Sam Hope
Web
Model
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Media on your side
Hidden Support
Social Support
ResourcesLess
experiences of bullying
and violence
Better Housing,
Schooling, Healthcare
Being Noticed
Feelings ValidatedPositive or
Neutral Assumptions
Well attached
Access to Services
Being Believed
© Sam Hope
Web
Model
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Social model of trans distress
A social model situates client’s distress in their social environment, rather than individualising it: It is the structures society created around gender that often harm trans clients. Not just individual change but structural change is needed to make trans people fully safe and well. These harmful structures will be unconsciously woven into the ideas and theories we were taught.
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Any Questions?
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• Further resources can be found on my website: sam-hope.co.uk
• Email me for the slides to this training – [email protected]
Sources of support:
• Mindline Trans helpline
• Gendered Intelligence
• Mermaids
• TransUnite: list of support groups