“Our Best Tip for Trans Men — Share Your Stories”: thoughts from Geoff Watland of ‘Transforming Practice’, the first book for health providers working with transgender men

Transforming Practice: Life Stories of Transgender Men that Change How Health Providers Work is an exploration of life satisfaction, health and wellness among transgender men, as told in their own words. While many focus on what is wrong with trans people, trans-ally Marcus Greatheart asked satisfied, post-transition trans men what worked well in order that health providers might better support those questioning or struggling with gender transition. Grounded in a strengths-based model, he explores the contexts and implications of both social and medical transition in the lives of trans guys from the US and Canada.

Our Best Tip for Trans Men — Share Your Stories
by Goeff Watland

I am a trans* ally and I’ve recently made the decision to focus my activism to encourage and assist trans* folks to share their success stories. As you’re probably well aware there’s a lot of information out there already about transition. The odd thing that I’ve discovered through my work is that there’s significant evidence to support that trans* folks aren’t sharing their successes with other trans* folks. There’s a trend for elders within these communities to isolate themselves from less experienced trans* folks and many instances when the advice and stories that are shared often focus on the negative and not on the positive. While it’s discouraging to hear that these stories aren’t often shared, it’s good to know that there are plenty of success stories out there. I’ve come to these conclusions after basically stumbling onto some work helping publish a research study over the past few years.

A couple years ago my friend, Marcus Greatheart, was completing his Graduate research and he asked me to help him out with finishing his thesis about trans men. He needed a second pair of eyes to look over what had become too familiar for him and a friend to help him finish what he was just weeks away from completing. The study he completed was on trans men who were “generally satisfied” with their lives and the factors that contributed to their “self-satisfaction.” He would have used the word happy instead of “satisfied” but happy is actually a vague and relative term when you think about it and Academia wasn’t going to go for it. What came of that study is now a book that we’ve just launched called Transforming Practice: Life Stories of Transgender Men that Change How Health Providers Work (Toronto: Ethica Press, 2013).

The book is primarily geared toward health care providers, but it uses moving and powerful firsthand stories from trans men to illustrate key points, making it a more approachable read to general audiences. I know from speaking to trans* friends that a trip to the doctor, a counselor or a social worker is hardly ever an easy, cut and dry process. Even a routine visit can be derailed with educating providers about basic trans* health and identity issues. Marcus and I hope that the book can help guys out in these situations, instead of having to educate providers. I hope someone can visit their providers and say something akin to, “There’s a really great book that goes into greater depth about the unique issues relevant to trans guys like myself, here’s the title. Now can we talk about my ingrown toenail which is the real reason I came in here?”

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