Yesterday, amongst many other things, I gave a trans awareness talk at a Bristol hospital. It was part of the events arranged by the Bristol North NHS Trust to celebrate LGBT History Month. Attendance was voluntary, so I got a very small group. There were eight people, mostly young nurses who were there because they has encountered trans people on their wards and wanted to know more about us. I found that very encouraging. If only GPs reacted to unusual patients in the same way. Indeed, if only NHS managers thought that such training was important. But, we had a good session, and most of the audience stayed behind and asked good questions afterwards. Mostly, of course, I encourage people not to ask intrusive of trans people, but when I’m on display providing a learning opportunity I encourage them to indulge in all of the nosiness that they might otherwise unleash on someone else. I’m relieved to say that they did not ask me anything I was unhappy to answer.

When I got home I checked the pile of social media notifications that were waiting for me. In amongst them was a link to the video embedded below. It was put on YouTube on Thursday, and gives you a good idea of what some of the patients think of the UK’s foremost Gender Identity Clinic, Charing Cross.