Trans with Pride

TRANS HEALTH CHOICE

The Trans with Pride team members for this strand were: Ben Thom, Denise Anderson and Charlie Kiss. With invited guests: CHRISTINE BURNS MBE (Press for Change) , EMMA ROEBUCK (Criminal Justice Worker) GAY ADVICE DARLINGTON, In association with: FTM LONDON

The workshops in this strand sought to empower transgender and transsexual people to understand that they have choices with regard to their treatment and treatment-provider, and to assist them when requesting the treatment they need (whether this is by NHS or private means).

This strand offered ways of becoming involved in patient and provider consultations. The workshops drew on the variety of the delegates' experiences, as well as sharing information regarding choice in trans-related health issues.

The information sharing focused on:

• Our legal rights as transsexual service users
• How to set the process in motion for applications for funding surgery

This strand promoted the idea that the issue of empowerment also applies to purchasers of private treatment or surgery and discussed practitioner best-practice in terms of how things might be improved, for example, the removal of the "trans label" when we seek non-trans health care. There was also be a general explanation of surgery in straightforward non-technical language for both MTFs and FTMs, and a short presentation on Sexual Health for trans people from Emma Roebuck.