5.3 Trauma and abuse
Content note: this section talks about adult and childhood trauma and in particular sexual abuse, but not graphically.
Sadly, LGBTQA+ youth are more at risk of being targeted for abuse than other children, as are other vulnerable or marginalised young people, such as disabled or looked-after children (NSPCC 2021a; NSPCC 2021b), and this is equally true for trans people (Thoma et al., 2021). Sadly, there is an enduring narrative that abuse can cause LGBTQA+ identities (Hope, 2019; Robinson, 2016). Some ICTA participants reported a variety of health professionals perpetuating this myth, including gender clinicians. For example, one participant said:
‘The psychiatrist just bluntly asked something like, “do you think you’re trans because you were abused as a child?”. I was just looking at him like completely baffled. You’re supposed to be a doctor and you’re saying those words?’
Pause for reflection
Have you ever questioned if a clients’ normative behaviour – their conformity, their heterosexuality, their cis identity, their conforming sexual behaviour, was caused or influenced by abuse? Have you seen others do this? What about the opposite? It is quite easy to notice a client’s differences and wonder what ‘caused’ them, rather than thinking ‘that’s just part of human diversity’.
Discussion
The myth about abuse causing trans identities can be internalised, and clients may come to us with questions such as ‘do you think abuse made me trans?’ Such myths can be reinforced by clinicians perpetuating them. Having helpful and trans-affirmative responses to such questions, especially if we work in survivors’ services, can put clients at their ease.
5.2 Trans identity and sexuality