Editorial Amanda Middleton and Alex Iantaffi – a dialogue


Alex: As we ref lected on what kind of editorial we could write to introduce this special issue of Context, Amanda and I thought it might work well to talk with one another and so weave our ref lections on how all the different pieces came together. When Amanda invited me to collaborate as co- editor on this issue, I was both excited and a little daunted by the magnitude of the task. There is so much to cover when addressing working therapeutically with trans and gender expansive people and their families. And there are so many more voices we wanted to include, such as young people themselves, parents, trans identified therapists; and so many more issues to address, like working with trans and gender expansive people on issues other than gender. We also wanted to address more intersectional issues, such as being trans and black, having a disability, being working class and so much more. We could not do it all. Luckily, the authors included in this issue were able to address some of these themes and topics. Their views and experiences span a landscape of identities, positions and even continents, as we have included authors from the UK, Canada, US and Australia. Amanda: A huge part of our conversations and putting together this issue has focused on inclusion and ensuring trans people’s voices are centred in as many levels and parts of the process as possible. I am reminded by the call, “Nothing about us without us”, brought into English by the disability movement, and how this has always echoed in my head when working with marginalised groups I am not a member of; it’s why I asked you to join me as co-editor (and why I was so thrilled when you agreed). Despite accumulating some wisdoms and knowledge from working and being alongside trans and non-binary people in my professional and personal worlds on a daily basis for many years, I am sure my voice


Context 155, February 2018


must never replace or speak for trans people. Instead, I want to make it more possible for trans people to take up space (especially in professional spaces and discourses). I try to exist in the “ f luid and imperfect ally” position that Vikki Reynolds wrote about so beautifully in a previous special issue of Context (October, 2010), attempting never to replicate or allow the replication of practices that pathologise, push aside or trivialise trans experiences. It makes me so happy to see the broad range of voices in this magazine (including getting Vikki to contribute again about her continuing work as an ally to the trans community). Trans people contributed all the images that accompany the pieces. I am honoured to have the art of a young trans person (thanks Mali!) and submissions from the Museum of Transology to add yet more trans voices to the issue. And I am so grateful to you, Alex, for the conversations that lead to us finding language to describe trans people and their experiences in ways that are inclusive, supportive and non-pathologising. Alex: Thank you, Amanda! I have definitely experienced your desire to centre trans voices and to counter the pathologising history in our field. As a trans person who is also a systemic therapist with over a decade of experience, and who is also a supervisor to several pre-licensure trans and non-binary family therapists, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to co-edit this important issue. When I first came into the field, I specifically chose systemic training, as it was not historically as pathologising towards my gender and sexuality as other psychological approaches have been. Nevertheless, histories of ‘othering’ and pathologising are hard to shake. Co-editing this issue definitely reminded me how much the field of mental health still struggles to access, find and centre language and terms that do not implicitly set trans and non-binary identities


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Editorial


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