Freddy McConnell is a dad, first and foremost, he is also a writer, podcaster, and campaigner.

In this episode of the GenderGP podcast he discusses his journey and the role of the internet in enabling visibility, particularly in the case of trans men.

He also shares his experiences of pregnancy and birth, the misinformation around the effects of testosterone and the importance of challenging the forgone conclusion that trans men automatically forfeit their fertility for their gender.

 

If you have been affected by any of the topics discussed in our podcast and would like to get in touch please visit our Help Centre.

You can also contact us on social media where you will find us at @GenderGP on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

We are always happy to accept ideas for future shows, so if there is something in particular you would like us to discuss or a specific guest you would love to hear from, let us know. Your feedback is really important to us so if you could take a minute or two to leave us a review and rating for the podcast on your favourite podcast app it will help others to discover us.

 

Links:

Seahorse, the dad who gave birth: https://seahorsefilm.com

How to access the private FB groups referenced by Freddie in this episode of the podcast: Search MX Seahorse on Facebook. Friend the account and they can speak to you about the range of groups that are out there and help you to find one that works for you.

 

The GenderGP Podcast

The Dad Who Gave Birth with Freddy McConnell – The GenderGP Podcast S4 E3

 

Hello, this is Dr Helen Webberley. Welcome to our GenderGP Podcast, where we will be discussing some of the issues affecting the trans and non-binary community in the world today, together with my co-host Marianne Oakes, a trans woman herself, and our head of therapy.

 

Dr. Helen Webberley:

Welcome, everybody. It's the last podcast of the year and one just before Christmas. So, for those of you listening before Christmas and New Year, Happy New Year and Happy Christmas to you all. I've got Freddy McConnell on with me. Freddy, I think perhaps it would best if you just introduce yourself and explain why you've kind of become a little bit famous over the last year. And just tell us a little bit about you and the things that you've been fighting for.

Freddy McConnell:

Sure.Well, God, yeah, it's been quite the year, I guess.Hopefully, maybe some people have seen Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth, which is a documentary that I sort of instigated and then collaborated on with a team of filmmakers, primarily Jeanie Finlay who's the director. So that was released sort of early in 2019 and then had an amazing time taking it around to various festivals in the US and in Europe as well. And then, yeah, it was on the BBC most recently.And hopefully, we'll continue to have it live next year.It's going to hopefully be out in the states and available online. And otherwise, I would I suppose describe myself as a dad, first and foremost, and then for work,writer, podcaster, and have more recently started to self-identify otherwise as a campaigner, as opposed to just being called one. Yeah. So that's something that I'm embracing more and actually finding it interesting and sort of obviously important but also hard. Yeah.

Dr. Helen Webberley:

Yeah, I think we can all relate to that. I never tire of hearing people's gender stories, and, you know, kind of from the beginning to today. So, I just wanted to I mean I'm guessing that many of our listeners are the same. You know I find the whole story fascinating, whosever story it is. And I think it also helps for people who haven't met as ma...

This special edition of the GenderGP podcast was recorded to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance 2019. Our head of counselling Marianne Oakes, is joined by Victoria Oldman, GenderGP’s Appraisal Pathway Lead. The pair discuss what TDOR means to them and the importance of looking after yourself when times get tough.

 

On Transgender Day of Remembrance don't forget to look after yourself.

 

If you have been affected by any of the topics discussed in our podcast and would like to get in touch, please visit our Help Centre. You can also contact us on social media, where you will find us at @GenderGP on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

We are always happy to accept ideas for future shows, so if there is something in particular you would like us to discuss, or a specific guest you would love to hear from, let us know.

Your feedback is really important to us so if you could take a minute or two to leave us a review and rating for the podcast on your favourite podcast app, it will help others to discover us.

 

Links

https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/11/the-trans-community-needs-more-than-awareness-we-need-to-feel-safe-11078709/

 

 

The GenderGP Podcast

Transgender Day of Remembrance Special – The GenderGP Podcast S4 E1

 

Hello, this is Dr Helen Webberley. Welcome to our GenderGP Podcast, where we will be discussing some of the issues affecting the trans and non-binary community in the world today, together with my co-host Marianne Oakes, a trans woman herself, and our head of therapy.

 

Marianne Oakes:

Hi, and welcome to the GenderGP podcast. Today I’m joined by my colleague at GenderGP, Victoria, who I’m sure many of you are familiar with if you’ve been receiving emails and communications. So, hi Victoria.

Victoria Oldman:

Hi, Marianne.

Marianne Oakes:

How are you today?

Victoria Oldman:

I’m good, I’m good. Yes, it’s a pleasure to be here. I suppose, virtually.

Marianne Oakes:

It’s great to have you here, actually. Finally, I think it’s been way too long. I’m about to say; unfortunately, I don’t know if it’s unfortunate or not that we’re here really to talk about the Transgender Day of Remembrance, and to kind of just reflect on that, as two representatives of GenderGP who are part of the community. So, I suppose the first question is to set off the conversation is how aware you are. Is it something that you’ve ever been involved in? Is it something you provide? What does it mean for you?

Victoria Oldman:

Wow, what a question, Marianne. Yeah, I mean obviously it’s a massively important day and a significant one. It’s not the easiest, I’ve found for myself.As a date just to deal with, it upsets, brings up a lot of difficult thoughts and memories and it can be quite a negative day. I feel obviously the focus is lost, generally, yeah. And so that’s quite tricky. I think it can be daunting perhaps, for, say, or more daunting people at the beginning of their journey than sort of further along because it’s almost like a flag, isn’t it? It’s almost like a wall comes up, a warning that says, look out, things aren’t great. And that’s obviously not the case but the subject matter of the day makes it a tricky one to process for many people.

Marianne Oakes:

I agree completely there. I think I wanted to say for people that are further along the journey, potentially more well-adjusted to the changes in the life, that maybe,

When paramedic Danica Rain started to investigate her options for Gender Confirmation Surgery, she was dismayed to find that her choices at home in Canada were limited. So she set out on a worldwide quest to find: "the best possible surgeon who would deliver the best possible results, both in terms of aesthetics and functionality".

Danica successfully campaigned for care outside of Canada through the Canadian healthcare system and she now acts as an expert patient and consultant for the Kamal Hospital in Thailand, where she ended up having her ground-breaking surgery.

In this episode of the GenderGP podcast, Danica talks to Dr Helen and Marianne about the importance of getting the right surgeon for you and why the trans community has to be prepared to fight for their right to access better care, rather than being grateful for what they can get.

 

If you have been affected by any of the topics discussed in our podcast and would like to get in touch please visit our Help Centre and get in touch. You can also contact us on social media, where you will find us at @GenderGP on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

We are always happy to accept ideas for future shows, so if there is something in particular you would like us to discuss or a specific guest you would love to hear from, let us know.

 

Links:

Danica's story was covered on City News Toronto. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/fOzzVNI9OfY

Find out more about the Kamol Hospital here: https://www.kamolhospital.com/en/

 

The GenderGP Podcast

Gender Confirmation Surgery with Danica Rain – The GenderGP Podcast S3 E6

 

Hello, this is Dr Helen Webberley. Welcome to our Gender GP Podcast, where we will be discussing some of the issues affecting the trans and non-binary community in the world today, together with my co-host Marianne Oakes, a trans woman herself, and our head of therapy.

 

Dr. Helen Webberley:

I’m really, really excited to welcome Danica with Marianne and I today. Danica, I am going to leave you to introduce yourself and to tell our listeners and watchers who you are and why you have joined us today, and a little bit about you and your kind of campaign, I guess, that is what I would call it. Anyway, over to you.

Danica Rain:

Okay, my name is Danica Rain. I am a Canadian citizen, and I am a trans woman. I guess my story first started when I noticed that there needed to be a change within the Canadian system for healthcare for trans-related surgeries. And what I did was I worked with Canadian healthcare so that I could go out of country to have my gender reassignment surgery or gender confirmation surgery. From there, it opened doors within Canada, in my province of Ontario, so that others could follow the same suit and get the well-needed surgeries that they deserve. Afterwards, I guess you could say that I continued volunteering my time for the surgeon where I had the surgery at. Now I am an international liaison who helps patients around the world get trans-related care and surgeries.

Dr. Helen Webberley:

Brilliant. So how long ago was this?

Danica Rain:

I would say about 3 years ago. I had my gender confirmation surgery back in November of 2016. So this would have been probably back in 2015 when I think you could say I started my work or my campaign in regards to changing the legislature so that I could have my surgery funded out of country.

Dr. Helen Webberley:

And why was it important for you to go out of country?

Danica Rain:

Our lead counsellor, Marianne, takes over the reins in this episode. She is joined by Veronica Victor and the pair discuss what it's like to move from the hustle and bustle of San Francisco to the tranquility of rural Ireland, where Veronica has found the peace to transition after 37 years.

 

Veronica Victor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The conversation tackles hypersensitivity and hypervigilance, parenting styles and Veronica's plans for the future, which include training as a therapist and running an animal sanctuary. She hopes to eventually combine her two passions by specialising in animal assisted therapy.

You can read more about Veronica's experiences here: https://www.gendergp.com/open-letter-transgender-friend/

If you have been affected by any of the topics discussed in our podcast and would like to get in touch please drop us a line at [email protected].

You can also contact us on social media where you can find us on Twitter at @GenderGP, follow us on Facebook at @GenderGP and see what we're up to on Instagram @GenderGP

 

We are always happy to accept ideas for future shows, so if there is something in particular you would like us to discuss or a specific guest you would love to hear from, let us know.

Your feedback is really important to us so if you could take a minute or two to leave us a review and rating for the podcast on your favourite podcast app, it will help others to discover us.

 

Links:

TENI Transgender Equaity Network Ireland - https://www.teni.ie

Read Derek Victor's blog here: Partner-and-ally.com

Twitter: @shapeshifterire

Instagram: @ms_v_quilts

 

Hear more from Veronica at Shapeshifter radio podcast, available for download from Spotify and on your favourite podcast app.

 

The GenderGP Podcast

Transitioning in Ireland – The GenderGP Podcast S3 E5

 

Hello, this is Dr Helen Webberley. Welcome to our Gender GP Podcast, where we will be discussing some of the issues affecting the trans and non-binary community in the world today, together with my co-host Marianne Oakes, a trans woman herself, and our head of therapy.

 

Marianne Oakes:

Hi, this is Marianne Oakes, lead counsel of GenderGP. I am joined this morning for this podcats by Veronica Victor, who is a trans woman living in Ireland. We’re going to be discussing her experience of life in Ireland, but also her life in general. So I think it would be best if I hand it over to veronica to explain a little bit about herself, who she is, and a little bit about her background. Is that okay, veronica?

Veronica Victor:

Yes, that’s great. Thanks so much for having me. It’s such a pleasure to be a guest on the podcats. I live in Ireland with my husband and 13 animals now, our growing menagerie. I have my own podcast, called Shapeshifter Radio, which I just started up after transitioning in Ireland, which was a different podcast we did about ten episodes, and then we called that project quits. And then I started a new one with new cohosts. We are trying to get that off the ground now. I’ve been transitioning for just over a year, and I have recently had top surgery. So things are moving on quite nicely for me, I should say. I am originally from the States, I grew up in a mixture between California, Ohio, and Florida, and then I went to San Fransisco as an adult after I got my degree in Anthropology at the university of south Florida. I am now going back to school as an adult as a therapist.

Darlene Tando has been working with gender expansive and trans youth and adults since 2006. In this episode of the GenderGP podcast, she talks to Dr Helen and Marianne about the trauma she witnesses in the patients she works with, why the distress model is problematic and some of the advice she gives to parents on how best to support their trans child.

 

If you have been affected by any of the topics discussed in our podcast and would like to get in touch please visit our Help Centre. You can also contact us on social media where you will find us at @GenderGP on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

We are always happy to accept ideas for future shows, so if there is something in particular you would like us to discuss or a specific guest you would love to hear from, let us know. Your feedback is really important to us so if you could take a minute or two to leave us a review and rating for the podcast on your favourite podcast app, it will help others to discover us.

Links

Darlene Tando - http://www.darlenetando.com

Gender Odyssey - http://www.genderodyssey.org

The Conscious Parent’s Guide to Gender Identity By Darlene Tando

GenderGP FB live stream event - https://gendergp.com/liveonlineevent/

Trans Youth Care - https://www.transyouthcare.com

 

Darlene Tando - Therapist Specialising in Transgender Youth

 

 

The GenderGP Podcast

Darlene Tando, therapist specializing in the care of trans youth – The GenderGP Podcast S3 E4

 

Hello, this is Dr. Helen Webberley. Welcome to our Gender GP Podcast, where we will be discussing some of the issues affecting the trans and non-binary community in the world today, together with my co-host Marianne Oakes, a trans woman herself, and our head of therapy.

 

Dr. Helen Webberley:

Hi, everybody. I am really delighted today. Back in January this year, Marianne and I and Abby went over to Los Angeles, and we went to the trans youth care symposium, and we met with Johanna Olson-Kennedy and Aydin Olson-Kennedy and Darlene Tando. We had the most amazing weekend, which was so inspiring, talking about the best way to help transgender youth. So, I am really excited to welcome Darlene with us today. She’s a therapist that specializes in helping transgender youth. And she has a load of experience. As I say, she was totally inspiring to me. So welcome, Darlene. It’s so nice to have you. I just wondered if you wanted to introduce yourself, and just tell us a little bit about you and what you do and how you got into this work.

Darlene Tando:

I am a licensed therapist, and I have been working with gender-expansive and transgender youth and adults since 2006. I started working with this population when I got my first client here in private practice who identified as transgender and needed help and support with transitioning. So, my education in that was kind of a whirlwind. I started attending conferences and reading books and educating myself so that my client wouldn’t have to educate me himself. And I had always worked with children, so after working with transgender adults for a few years, my two specialties came together, and I started working with transgender youth. I started to do that a lot now because there aren’t a lot of providers who deal with transgender youth. There are more providers who work with transgender adolescents and adults. So, I see youth and adults, but the emphasis lately has been on youth.

Dr. Helen Webberley:

And when you say youth, what kind of age group would you say that was?

Darlene Tando:

Well, I see kids as young as 3 years old.

Tara Hewitt is best known as the co-founder of the Trans Equality Legal Initiative (TELI) - the UK's first coalition of trans people, human rights lawyers and diversity professionals. Along with her work as a diversity and inclusion consultant, she is wholly dedicated to increasing access to justice and injecting a factual basis around discussion of trans issues.

In this episode of the GenderGP podcast Tara joins Dr Helen and Marianne to discuss the importance of trans representation and education within the NHS and the challenges still to be faced for transgender people to receive affirmative and non-discriminatory healthcare.

If you have been affected by any of the topics discussed in our podcast and would like to get in touch please visit our Help Centre. You can also contact us on social media where you will find us at @GenderGP on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

We are always happy to accept ideas for future shows, so if there is something in particular you would like us to discuss or a specific guest you would love to hear from, let us know. Your feedback is really important to us so if you could take a minute or two to leave us a review and rating for the podcast on your favourite podcast app it will help others to discover us.

 

Tara Hewitt, TELI Founder & Transgender Diversity and Inclusion Expert

 

Links

Follow Tara on Twitter: @tara_hewitt

Follow TELI on Twitter: @UKTELI

Gendered Intelligence Website: genderedintelligence.co.uk

Sparkle - National Transgender Charity Website: www.sparkle.org.uk

LGBT Foundation Website: https://lgbt.foundation

If you enjoyed this episode of our podcast please don’t forget to rate and review via your favourite podcast app

 

 

The GenderGP Podcast

Tara Hewitt; transgender diversity and inclusion expert – The GenderGP Podcast S3 E3

 

Hello, this is Dr Helen Webberley. Welcome to our Gender GP Podcast, where we will be discussing some of the issues affecting the trans and non-binary community in the world today, together with my co-host Marianne Oakes, a trans woman herself, and our head of therapy.

 

Dr. Helen Webberley:

Hi, everybody. Really excited to be back after some holidays. I've got Tara with me, and I'm going to let her introduce herself to you, really looking forward to having a good chat. So over to you, Tara.

Tara Hewitt:

Hi Helen. It's lovely to see you be on here today. I am the co-founder of the Trans Equality Legal Initiative, and I’m a leadership and inclusion consultant.

Dr. Helen Webberley:

Brilliant. Tell us a bit more about your work with TELI, to start with.

Tara Hewitt:

So basically, the Trans Equality Legal Initiative was set up probably two and a half years ago now, with a number of trans people came together with some of our leading UK human rights lawyers, solicitors, and barristers, to try and increase access to justice for the trans community, but also to inject some factual basis and some evidence basis into the discussions that were happening around trans inclusion, with a lot of myths popping up there in the media. And even when engaging with public bodies, we really felt it was important that I read what the experts said to make sure that decisions were in based on evidence rather than ideology or just lay opinions.

Dr. Helen Webberley:

And in that two and a half years, how have things been? What have you achieved? How has it turned up? Because clearly in the trans world,

British racing driver Charlie Martin, shares her inspirational story as she embarks on the biggest challenge of her life: to become the first transgender racing driver to compete in the Le Mans 24 hour race.

In this episode of the GenderGP podcast Charlie joins Dr Helen and Marianne to discuss the importance of being a role model and why you should never give up on your dreams.

 

If you have been affected by any of the topics discussed in our podcast and would like to get in touch please visit our Help Centre. You can also contact us on social media where you will find us at @GenderGP on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

We are always happy to accept ideas for future shows, so if there is something in particular you would like us to discuss or a specific guest you would love to hear from, let us know. Your feedback is really important to us so if you could take a minute or two to leave us a review and rating for the podcast on iTunes it will help others to discover us.

 

Charlie Martin, Racecar Driver

 

Links

Twitter: @gocharliem

Website: https://www.gocharlie.co.uk

Mermaids: https://mermaidsuk.org.uk

Stonewall: https://www.stonewall.org.uk

 

If you enjoyed this episode of our podcast please don’t forget to rate and review via your favourite podcast app.

 

The GenderGP Podcast

Charlie Martin’s race to the top – The GenderGP Podcast S3 E2

 

Hello, this is Dr Helen Webberley. Welcome to our Gender GP Podcast, where we will be discussing some of the issues affecting the trans and non-binary community in the world today, together with my co-host Marianne Oakes, a trans woman herself, and our head of therapy.

 

Dr. Helen Webberley:

I’m really excited to welcome you, Charlie, to our podcast. I just wonder whether you’d like to introduce yourself? And tell us who you are and why you are interested in trans advocacy, and just a bit about you.

Charlie Martin:

Thank you. Well, I think, first of all, thanks for having me on. It's great to join you this morning. So yeah, I'm Charlie Martin. I'm a racing driver, and I'm a trans woman. I transitioned about six years, no, seven years ago. So, kind of midway through my racing career, which was quite a daunting thing to do, really, in such a male-dominated form of sports. And since then, you know, I've been vlogging on YouTube and really just trying to share my transition in a way that would help inspire people, really. And that’s now grown into me working with Stonewall, and Mermaids, and Athlete Ally in the USA, and really just trying to use my profile, my platform, within my sport. And I guess within the media to an extent as well to just try and educate people and create positive awareness for the trans community. So yeah, I do as they do, a bit of motivational speaking now, and trying to change people’s perception of what it is like to transition.

Dr. Helen Webberley:

It’s interesting what you say, because we are often asked, "Why are trans issues becoming so prevalent, so loud, in the last few years?" and no one really knows, but I think a lot of it has to do with higher-profile people coming forward and being brave enough to share their stories. And you, people call those role models and whatever you like. What are your thoughts on the influence that has on younger people, or older people even? You know, being brave enough to come forward with their trans journey?

Charlie Martin:

I think it makes a huge impact, just looking at it from my own perspective for a moment, I mean I know when I was really young –obviously that was bef...

Los Angeles Paediatrician, Dr Paria Hassouri, joins Dr Helen to discuss how it felt when her child came out as trans, and the journey she and her family have since been on to learn more about gender variance.

In this incredibly honest and open account, Dr Hassouri talks about how her daughter’s revelation led her to question her own identity as a mother and Paediatrician, and how the experience has helped her to grow.

 

Links

https://www.pariahassouri.com

Twitter: @PariaHassouri

Mermaids: https://www.mermaidsuk.org.uk

Gender Odyssey: http://www.genderodyssey.org

If you enjoyed this episode of our podcast please don't forget to rate and review via your favourite podcast app.

 

The GenderGP Podcast

How it feels when your child comes out as trans – The GenderGP Podcast S3 E1

 

Hello, this is Dr Helen Webberley. Welcome to our Gender GP Podcast, where we will be discussing some of the issues affecting the trans and non-binary community in the world today, together with my co-host Marianne Oakes, a trans woman herself, and our head of therapy.

 

Dr. Helen Webberley:

So I'm on my own today. I haven't got Marianne with me, but I'm really excited about welcoming Dr Hassouri who is a paediatrician from Los Angeles. Dr Hassouri, if you wouldn't mind introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about yourself and why we might be interested in some of the things you have to say.

Dr Paria Hassouri:

Sure. My name is Paria Hassouri. I'm a paediatrician in Los Angeles. I've been practising for about 17 years now. I have three children, and my middle child, who is almost 16 now, came out to us as transgender at the age of 13. And we were completely blindsided. I would say that I didn't think she had any signs of being trans before she came out to us. And so that started a journey of me learning more about transgender kids and teens and young adults, and starting to write about it a little bit. And so here I am.

Dr. Helen Webberley:

Brilliant. So if you don't mind telling us a little bit about your daughter. So you say that it was completely unknown to you, didn't you? You didn't see it coming, which is obviously something that we have a lot of parents talking about. What was that like for you?

Dr Paria Hassouri:

Yeah, I mean we really—I never saw any signs in her that I would consider consistent with gender dysphoria before she came out to us at 13. When she was 12, she told us that she thought she was bisexual and that wasn't really a surprise to us. We were supportive of that and said, “OK, maybe you're just gay, not bisexual.” But you know, we were very supportive. But when at 13 she told us she's actually trans, we were just completely surprised. I guess prior to that—I mean, I thought that signs of being transgender would be her wanting to do more traditionally opposite sex, opposite gender things. when she was younger, she had never had any history of let's say wanting to play with traditionally girl toys or grow out her hair or wear dresses, or skirts or anything like that in my mind that I considered signs of being transgender. And I really wracked my brain to try to think if there was there any time where she may have shown any sort of interest in what you would consider traditionally female gender things. And there really was not. She'd always play with cars and trains, and she liked video games. She wasn't sporty, but plenty of boys aren't sporty necessarily. We really couldn't think of anything. In our house, I have an older son and then a younger daughter. So our home had both boy and girl traditional toys, costumes, all of that.

Transfeminine jurist and bioethicist Florence Ashley, joins Dr Helen and Marianne to discuss ethics in the context of medical treatment for transgender people.

 

Topics covered in this episode include:

- The ethics of diagnosis for trans people

- The relevance of assessments and why they are dehumanising

- The value of experience in directing decisions on the treatment of trans youth

 

Florence Ashley is a transfeminine jurist, bioethicist and academic. Her focus is on therapeutic approaches to transgender youth and the legality of conversion therapy.

Follow Florence on Twitter @ButNotTheCity

 

Links

Blog Post: https://blogs.bmj.com/bmjebmspotlight/2019/02/25/gender-affirming-hormone-in-children-and-adolescents-evidence-review/

Website: https://www.florenceashley.com

PDF: Against Delaying Transition For Transgender And Gender Creative Youth

GenderGP Post: https://gendergp.com/bmj-carl-heneghan/

 

 

The GenderGP Podcast

Trans Ethics with Florence Ashley – The GenderGP Podcast S2 E6

 

Hello, this is Dr Helen Webberley. Welcome to our Gender GP Podcast, where we will be discussing some of the issues affecting the trans and non-binary community in the world today, together with my co-host Marianne Oakes, a trans woman herself, and our head of therapy.

 

Dr. Helen Webberley:

Hi everybody, and welcome to our podcast today. We have myself and Marianne as usual. And today I'm very excited to invite Florence Ashley, who is a bioethicist and Masters of Law candidate at McGill University in Montreal. Florence contacted me because she'd written an article talking about psychiatric assessments in trans patients. And I was very interested in what she wrote. So I'm really excited about opening up some of the sources she's had in her article. So Florence, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background and your interest in this field?

Florence Ashley:

So you know I do law and bioethics. I did my law degree at McGill University, and now I'm doing my masters. A lot of my focus is on law and bioethics, and especially health law as it relates to Trans Healthcare. So my master's topic is a big old regulation of conversion therapy, you know. And I'm working on laws that prohibit it, and I'm going to continue in the same topic for my doctoral work. But at the same time, I also write on a host of issues in line with bioethics relating to trans people, like peer-reviewed journals. And I have gotten interested in the question of gatekeeping and stuff like that but from an ethical perspective; because a lot of the discussions have been very framed in a naïve version of evidence-based medicine that doesn't leave a lot of room for ethical discussions beyond the evidence of harm through studies. And I think that we need to broaden our discussions to include a lot more than what is the nitty-gritty of the evidence. But also how do we interpret and how do we do the uptake of that evidence? And also how do we think about those issues from more philosophical and critical perspectives?

Dr. Helen Webberley:

Okay. Brilliant. Well you know, you're just the person I would really love to talk to. I have to say. So much of what you said that rings true. I'll just pick up on that last thing that you said talking about the lack of evidence, and how the thirst for evidence and how it would lean heavily on evidence doesn't give us a chance to discuss broader social areas around this. And we're all saying if there isn't any evidence to say that doing this is going to be beneficial or harmful, how can we possibly introduce a treatment that might be beneficial or harmful.

In this mini episode of the GenderGP podcast, Dr Helen and Marianne discuss their trip to Cornwall, where they launched the GenderGP roadshow.

The roadshow provided an opportunity to meet some members of the team, ask any burning questions and (importantly!) enjoy a relaxed chat over tea and cake.

We will be taking the roadshow around the UK over the coming months. If you are part of a trans support group and you would like GenderGP to visit your area, please get in touch via email: [email protected]

Please note: The GenderGP Empowerment Pack, which is discussed in this episode, is currently in production. As soon as it is live we will share it on the website.

 

Links

To read a transcript of the full Q&A from our trip to Cornwall click here.

Safe Haven is a support group in Cornwall for trans and non binary people, their partners and families. To find out more visit http://safehaven.org.uk/

 

The GenderGP Podcast

GenderGP on the road: The GenderGP Podcast S2 E5

 

Hello, this is Dr Helen Webberley. Welcome to our Gender GP Podcast, where we will be discussing some of the issues affecting the trans and non-binary community in the world today, together with my co-host Marianne Oakes, a trans woman herself, and our head of therapy.

 

Marianne Oakes:

We're here with a mini-podcast today, with the wonderful Dr Helen Webberley and me. We both recently visited the Safe Haven support group down in Cornwall where we launched what we think is the first of many or hopefully many roadshows. Which gave us the opportunity to interact and meet lots of our lovely patients, and also potentially lots of lovely new patients. How did you find the experience, Helen?

Dr. Helen Webberley:

I loved it. I'm always a bit nervous going to things like that because I have this horrible thing where I don't recognise faces, and I knew that there were going to be lots of people there that I'd helped and you know empowered on their journey which I did, and it was just amazing to see so many people there and everyone kind of rushed over and said thank you so much. You know without you we couldn't have done this we couldn't have done that. And just to know what good work we do and to see such happy smiling faces was was truly amazing. And there were people there that started their journey with us a few years ago and were in quite dark places and now just to see the happiness of people living as they feel that they should live, living happily and identifying with their gender confidently, was just amazing. And then of course to see other people who were at different stages of their journey, you know some sadness in the stories and some you know hope for the future. But I absolutely loved it. And in that room that Jackie had put together so well, there was such a feeling of strength and passion, and a vision for the future. It was really, really empowering.

Marianne Oakes:

It's not often that we get to see the end results of the project that we started if project is the right word. You know somebody comes to us in a dark place, goes on this journey, and they go out the other side. And I won't say that they go off and leave us, but they're just going up with their life. And then to see somebody who we've helped from the early stages, it was better than any research you could read. It was like getting to live the research if you know what I mean that the feedback that we were getting was everything -- that we believe in what we do.

Dr. Helen Webberley:

I totally agree. You know you can't capture can you those faces that energy the happiness the focus for the future you know you just can't capture that ...