Access to support on-island 'is most important thing for transgender people'

Vic Tanner Davy, chairman of the equality and diversity charity in Jersey, said Jersey has seen a ‘massive increase’ in people examining and asking questions about their gender.

Estimated figures show that has doubled in four years from 25 to 50 as young people in particular are exploring their gender and the possibility of changing it.

In Guernsey, vice-chair of its sister charity, Ellie Jones, said: ‘For us, it’s not about an increase in the number of people questioning their gender, it’s about an increase in the amount of people feeling more comfortable accessing services and being aware of services which offer help and guidance on gender identity.’

Talks between Liberate and the director of public health Dr Nicola Brink have been going on for the last few years.

‘One of the things to come out of these talks was the conference held in November with lots of GPs, medical professionals and speakers from the UK.

‘We spoke about sexual health and mental health, which gave our GPs and doctors a much better understanding of the journey that transgender people take,’ Ms Jones said.

‘Everybody’s journey is different and Health wanted to know how that journey can be made smoother for people.’

For islanders looking to explore their gender identity, knowing the routes available to them is as much of an important step as recruiting specially trained professionals.

‘We have also been speaking about how we as a charity can help facilitate support, which is a really positive thing,’ she said. ‘And we are in discussions over how to make this more efficient for patients and cost-effective for the States.’

Similar to Liberate Jersey’s proposals, Liberate Guernsey hopes the States of Guernsey can see the benefit of bringing trained professionals over to the island instead of sending locals to the UK for the same advice.

‘The States could save money by bringing a gender specialist over to the island who could see multiple people in one trip rather than regularly referring Guernsey people over to the UK.

‘Bringing a gender specialist to Guernsey three or four times a year could potentially save the States a lot of money and help trans people access regular help and advice during what can be a very long process.’

Currently, islanders can wait up to two years to have their initial meeting with a gender specialist.

Long referral times can have adverse effects on someone’s mental health, which can be seen in the alarmingly high suicide rate of young trans people.

‘This in turn puts further strain on the health systems here,’ Ms Jones added.

‘Being able to meet regularly with a gender specialist would certainly help bring the figure down.’

n For more information, visit www.liberate.gg.