LGBTQ+ History Month Lecture - Professor Zoë Playdon: 'Making Trans History, Making Trans Futures' 'Making Trans History, Making Trans Futures' "Trans history has been written mainly by cis writers – specialist medicine, the law, public media, unevidenced political opinion – positioning trans as abject, voiceless. As an antidote to this, and to support our cis allies, I want to explore how we can make our own history through research and direct action. In the present context of UK government and media attacks on trans liberties and identities, and the cumulative harm created by that systemic violence, this is an urgent task.' "Few remember that until 1969, UK trans people self-identified, accessed affirmative medical care, corrected their Birth Certificates and lived in full legal equality. Then came a violent medical regime of diagnosis and compulsory sterilisation, the legal removal of trans civil liberties, and extreme social exclusion. Researching the tipping point for this change and exposing a hidden legal case in which everyone involved had been sworn to secrecy and its legal record removed from the public eye because ‘some things are more important to protect than the rights of individuals’, is one way of making trans history. The other way, direct action, is illustrated by the landmark 1996 European legal decision in P v S and Cornwall County Council, which restored employment rights to trans people and initiated twenty-five years of improvement in healthcare, education, prison services, and media representation. Understanding how direct action has succeeded in the past is another key way of making trans history for the future." - Professor Zoe Playdon Please register (free) at the Eventbrite link. Professor Zoë Playdon Image Zoë Playdon is the Emeritus Professor of Medical Humanities at the University of London, Visiting Professor at the University of Cumbria, and Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck College. Her award-winning book, 'The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes', published in 2021, was hailed by 'The i as' "one of the most important pieces of investigative journalism ever written about trans people" and called by Baroness Helena Kennedy ‘a landmark work of history, law and social change’ Zoë holds five degrees, including two doctorates. A former co-chair of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Doctors and Dentists [GLADD], Zoë co-founded the Parliamentary Forum on Gender Identity in 1994. She has 35 years’ experience of frontline work in LGBTI human rights, including advising UK Government departments and supporting and winning UK and European legal cases. https://www.ed.ac.uk/maps/maps?building=0113 Feb 17 2023 14.00 - 15.30 LGBTQ+ History Month Lecture - Professor Zoë Playdon: 'Making Trans History, Making Trans Futures' The School's 2023 LGBTQ+ History Month Lecture will be given by Professor Zoë Playdon on 17 February. Meadows Lecture Theatre, Doorway 4, Old Medical School Find the venue Eventbrite
LGBTQ+ History Month Lecture - Professor Zoë Playdon: 'Making Trans History, Making Trans Futures' 'Making Trans History, Making Trans Futures' "Trans history has been written mainly by cis writers – specialist medicine, the law, public media, unevidenced political opinion – positioning trans as abject, voiceless. As an antidote to this, and to support our cis allies, I want to explore how we can make our own history through research and direct action. In the present context of UK government and media attacks on trans liberties and identities, and the cumulative harm created by that systemic violence, this is an urgent task.' "Few remember that until 1969, UK trans people self-identified, accessed affirmative medical care, corrected their Birth Certificates and lived in full legal equality. Then came a violent medical regime of diagnosis and compulsory sterilisation, the legal removal of trans civil liberties, and extreme social exclusion. Researching the tipping point for this change and exposing a hidden legal case in which everyone involved had been sworn to secrecy and its legal record removed from the public eye because ‘some things are more important to protect than the rights of individuals’, is one way of making trans history. The other way, direct action, is illustrated by the landmark 1996 European legal decision in P v S and Cornwall County Council, which restored employment rights to trans people and initiated twenty-five years of improvement in healthcare, education, prison services, and media representation. Understanding how direct action has succeeded in the past is another key way of making trans history for the future." - Professor Zoe Playdon Please register (free) at the Eventbrite link. Professor Zoë Playdon Image Zoë Playdon is the Emeritus Professor of Medical Humanities at the University of London, Visiting Professor at the University of Cumbria, and Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck College. Her award-winning book, 'The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes', published in 2021, was hailed by 'The i as' "one of the most important pieces of investigative journalism ever written about trans people" and called by Baroness Helena Kennedy ‘a landmark work of history, law and social change’ Zoë holds five degrees, including two doctorates. A former co-chair of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Doctors and Dentists [GLADD], Zoë co-founded the Parliamentary Forum on Gender Identity in 1994. She has 35 years’ experience of frontline work in LGBTI human rights, including advising UK Government departments and supporting and winning UK and European legal cases. https://www.ed.ac.uk/maps/maps?building=0113 Feb 17 2023 14.00 - 15.30 LGBTQ+ History Month Lecture - Professor Zoë Playdon: 'Making Trans History, Making Trans Futures' The School's 2023 LGBTQ+ History Month Lecture will be given by Professor Zoë Playdon on 17 February. Meadows Lecture Theatre, Doorway 4, Old Medical School Find the venue Eventbrite
Feb 17 2023 14.00 - 15.30 LGBTQ+ History Month Lecture - Professor Zoë Playdon: 'Making Trans History, Making Trans Futures' The School's 2023 LGBTQ+ History Month Lecture will be given by Professor Zoë Playdon on 17 February.
