Publications

Families and clinicians sometimes worry that children who socially transition will later change how they identify, a process known as retransition. This longitudinal work with the Trans Youth Project followed 317 youth who were transgender at enrolment, averaging just over eight years old at the start, with information reported by youth and parents. An average of five years after their initial social transition, 7.3% had retransitioned at least once. Ninety-four percent identified as binary transgender at the end of the period, 2.5% as cisgender and 3.5% as nonbinary. Retransitions were infrequent but worth understanding so families and clinicians can support youth well.

Some young people who socially transition gender later transition again, an experience families and clinicians often worry about but know little about. Drawing from an ongoing longitudinal study of 317 initially binary transgender youth, researchers identified 23 who had retransitioned, and interviewed 15 youth and their parents about what preceded each transition, how others reacted, and how they now reflect on it. At data collection, participants included cisgender, nonbinary, and binary transgender youth. Paths varied: identities changed over time, or a newly learned label simply fit better. Reactions were often neutral or positive, and no participant spontaneously voiced regret about transitioning initially.

Methamphetamine use among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) often traces back to early wounds. Using a feminist trauma framework, researchers conducted 33 semi-structured interviews with GBM across British Columbia between June and October 2018, covering sexual experiences, support services, and meth use. Thematic analysis surfaced developmental and insidious trauma alongside coping with trauma-related stressors. Participants described family- and peer-perpetrated heterosexism, childhood sexual abuse, and intersecting oppression, which fed internalized shame, interpersonal anxiety, and low self-esteem. In adulthood they used meth to manage emotions and connect with others, pointing toward trauma-informed care.

People living with HIV who use drugs often face barriers in conventional health care, and their hospital experiences shape whether they stay engaged in treatment. Semi-structured interviews with 22 people who had been admitted to hospital in the past year while using drugs were analyzed through structuration theory. Participants described two sets of rules at work: their own personal rules for navigating admission, and the hospital's rules. Many said providers treated them through a constructed "difficult patient" identity. The authors argue that treating everyone identically does not produce equity, since hospital social practices privilege providers, and patients' capacity to change those dynamics remains limited.

Feminist theory has shaped much of what is known about intimate partner violence, but it struggles to account for the experiences of trans and nonbinary people. This conceptual article supports an emerging trans theoretical framework by first tracing how Black, Indigenous and queer feminist thought explains gendered violence, then showing where those explanations fall short when applied to trans experiences of intimate partner violence. Re-examining trans IPV through a trans theory lens, the author argues that the complexity of trans identities and embodiment demands a fuller account of gender, and that trans theory supplies that needed nuance.