Reflections on transgender representation in academic publishing

“Kia ora, everyone.” After recently taking up a role as associate editor for the International Journal of Transgenderism, I was invited to write an editorial for this issue of the journal. For those who don't know me, I'm a lecturer in psychology at the University of Waikato in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Until recently, I was living in Vancouver, Canada, and as a member of WPATH, I have been involved with the Australian and New Zealand Professional Association for Transgender Health (ANZPATH) and the Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health (CPATH). I have published works about transgender people's sexuality, identity development, and most recently, the social determinants of health inequities for transgender people.

I am using this editorial as an opportunity to reflect on my position as a transgender person beginning in the role of an associate editor of the Journal. I am one of the first¹ transgender people to be taking up this level of editorial position for this journal. A trend toward including transgender people in editorial roles mirrors the increasing numbers of transgender members of WPATH that I have noticed in my time as a member of the association. It has been pleasing to see initiatives like creating a space for transgender people to connect and network at the most recent WPATH Biennial Symposium in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to facilitate networking and support, and I hope there will be more initiatives like this in the future.

There also appears to be an increasing number of transgender researchers publishing in the area of transgender health and well-being. In the last 2 years, this journal has published a number of articles by authors who publicly identify as transgender (e.g., Galupo, Henise, & Mercer, 2016; MacKinnon, Tarasoff, & Kia, 2016; Thomas, Amburgey, & Ellis, 2016; Thompson, Reisner, VanKim, & Raymond, 2015; Veale, Watson, Adjei, & Saewyc, 2016).

It seems to me that there are clear similarities between the fields of transgender health and women's health—the current representation of transgender people in academic writing in transgender health seems to parallel the representation of women in academic writing in women's health in the past. This is most clearly expressed by the recent publication of the book Trans Bodies, Trans Selves (Erickson-Schroth, 2014), a book about transgender health and well-being written by transgender authors, which was inspired by Our Bodies, Ourselves (Boston Women's Health Book Collective, 2011), a book about women's health written by female authors, first published in 1971, when academic writing in the field of women's health was dominated by men who did not always have an appreciation of the perspectives and experiences of women (Boston Women's Health Book Collective, 2011). Today, there is greater representation of women in academic writing in women's health: From a cursory look at the editors of leading obstetrics and gynecology journals, it seems that around one-third of these are women, and multidisciplinary women's health journals appear to have a roughly even split of men and women as editors. I hope that I and other transgender people beginning in editorial positions will mark the beginning of a similar trend toward increased transgender representation in the transgender health discipline.

Why is this increased transgender representation within WPATH and the International Journal of Transgenderism important? I am sure there are many reasons, but I will mention two in this editorial that I believe are particularly crucial. Firstly, as a transgender person, I know firsthand some of the challenges of participating in organizations like WPATH, wherein it can often feel like people are talking about you rather than to you. In other words, it can feel as though you are expected to be there as a patient or a research participant rather than as a health professional or academic in your own right. Obviously, this is not the overt intention of most of the people currently involved in WPATH, but given the history of the organization (and by extension its journal), this can continue to be the perception. Increased transgender representation can help to dispel the perception. Secondly, having a greater voice in what is written and spoken about transgender people in the academic and health professional domains will enhance the sense of empowerment that transgender people as a community feel, and this, in turn, will enhance the “health, research, education, respect, dignity, and equality” regarding transgender people, in keeping with WPATH's vision (World Professional Association for Transgender Health, n.d., para. 3).

I hope that readers of this editorial will agree with me about the importance of transgender representation in the discipline of transgender health. Cisgender people involved in this discipline can help to make this increased representation of transgender people become a reality by choosing to mentor and otherwise assist transgender students and early-career professionals and by continuing to promote opportunities for those of us who are already more established.

This brings me to my final point. I am greatly thankful and excited to have this opportunity to serve as associate editor of the International Journal of Transgenderism. As someone who is passionate about any work to improve the health and well-being of transgender people, I have an appreciation of those who have forged the way before us, and I share the editorial board's vision for the future of the journal (e.g., Bouman, 2016). I hope you will all support our journal by continuing to publish and to peer review manuscripts with us.

Note

Notes

1. While I do not know for certain the specific details of those who have come before me, it seems safe to assume that most, if not all, of the people in these positions previously have been cisgender.