Iam a trans man. In 1975, I failed the clinical assessment for crosssex hormone therapy, and was told I would never be treated. In the 1960s, 54 per cent of family doctors claimed they would prefer a patient commit suicide rather than provide them with gender reassignment treatments. Thankfully, my GP was different and I got the treatment I needed. Aged 19, as I started life as Stephen, I knew how lucky I was, having managed to avoid being sectioned and given aversion therapy. Being trans was bloody hard work.
Today, clinicians increasingly challenge Emma Hartley’s assumption that there is an absolutely clear distinction between the biology of sex and the social constructs of gender. Some sex dimorphic nuclei and other physical brain features, along with genetic indicators, have been found to differ in trans people, meaning biological elements may well feature in the trans or non-binary person’s experience of gender.