Trans in Wales- introduction

 Trans in Wales- introduction


There's something rather odd about being trans in Wales. It's a converging of nationality (sometimes adoptive) and marginalisation. But in all my time spent living in England (18 years), I've encountered so many more institutional problems there than in Wales.


Right off the bat in my gender journey navigating England's finest trans-unfriendly healthcare networks, I experienced institutional transphobia. My first referral to a GIC in Manchester fell through after my attempt to seek mental health support for reasons unrelated to my transness were revealed to the professionals I had encountered. I never got that referral. That was back when I was in college, in England. Having gone through the mentally stressful ordeal of disguising my lateness returning to where my parents lived as studying late and the bus arriving  later than usual, I struck out alone to a busy hospital, where I'd carefully organised my appointment with a medical professional who wouldn't out me to my (now estranged) parents (the family GP was at liberty to do so as I was 17 and so going there was out of the question). It had taken a series of telephone calls and bouncing back and forth between services to arrange to meet someone at the hospital to talk about gender identity. All for that to fall through in the end. 


Which is why it surprised me when, after phoning my new GP in Wales in late November of 2020 to talk about mental health, he asked if I had any other queries and I said I'm trans. I was remarkably surprised when he put me down on the waiting list for Cardiff GIC immediately. As simple as that. With a phone call in mid- December to confirm my place on that list.


Is this the whole state of being trans in Wales? Not by a longshot. But is it better than England ? Absolutely, a million times more so. And that is what this blogging series is going to be about. 


What is it really like to be a trans person in Wales? And has it changed in the last few years? 


All of that, dear readers, is to come.


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