30th April 2025, 3.00–5.00pm, Zoom
What does it mean to transition in the UK today when NHS gender clinics were built on eugenics? What do 19th century British laws about sexuality have to do with present-day police and border violence? And why are queer politicians like Wes Streeting so invested in turning medicine against trans youth?
In this workshop, we investigate the history of how the British state – in the UK and across the Empire – made queerness into a mental illness. Led by historian and trans health justice worker Jack Doyle, we’ll trace queer and trans people’s history of resistance to British asylums, psych wards, conversion practices, and policing.
After a brief intro to the history of LGBTQ mental health in the UK, we’ll learn about – and discuss – three historical case studies to reflect on how queer people push back against violent medical systems. We’ll contrast how gender nonconformity has been medicalised by British authorities between a historical white ‘model patient’ and an incarcerated Black trans person, examine queer First World War soldiers’ court-martials to ask what kinds of queerness (past and present) threaten the British state, and dig into 1970s trans liberation activists’ battles with the gender clinic to understand the current trans health crisis.
Content note: This workshop will involve discussions of medical racism, conversion practices, sexual violence, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism.
Who is this workshop for?
This workshop is for NSUN members (individuals and user-led groups with lived experience of mental ill-health, distress or trauma) but you are welcome to join in any capacity: expert by lived experience, mental health practitioner, Mad liberation worker or comrade. If you are not already an NSUN member, please sign up via this link before registering for the event.
What will the workshop involve?
This workshop will be presented on Zoom, with slides and automated captions. Video/audio for attendees is optional. While there’ll be group discussion and reflection questions asked to the audience throughout, you’re equally welcome to participate (spoken or via chat) or to sit and listen. One case study will involve using breakout rooms and a short discussion in a smaller group, which you can opt out of joining. There will be a 15-minute comfort break halfway through the session. We’ll finish the session with 15-20 minutes of general reflections and connecting our own experiences to the material we’ve learned. If you have any questions about the delivery format or have specific access needs, get in touch via info@nsun.org.uk and we’ll help find a solution.
Join the discussion or come listen and learn!
Reserve your place
Spaces for this workshop are limited so please double check your availability before registering, and email us at info@nsun.org.uk if you can no longer attend. Please also check your spam/junk folder and email us if you do not hear from us to confirm your place within a few days of registering.
What is NSUN?
NSUN is a charity and membership organisation of people and grassroots groups with lived experience of mental ill-health, trauma and distress, working towards the redistribution of power and resource in mental health. You can find out more about us here.
NSUN’s Conduct Agreement
We want virtual NSUN spaces to be safe, welcoming, and inclusive. Harassment, hate speech, and inappropriate behaviour of any kind, verbal or in the chat/Q&A, will not be tolerated.
We reserve the right to immediately remove any attendee we consider to be in breach of this conduct agreement. This includes anyone making racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or otherwise discriminatory, offensive, or hateful remarks.
Removed participants will not be able to re-join the session, or, if applicable, join any of the rest of the sessions in a day or series of events. In order to avoid the derailing of sessions we will not enter into conversations around why conduct was deemed inappropriate in the sessions themselves.
Access
You can find an Easy Read Guide to joining Zoom meetings here.
If you need help with costs to be able to access this event, we may be able to make a contribution – please get in touch with us at info@nsun.org.uk.
Zoom closed captions will be available to turn on during the meeting.
We will be asking that attendees keep themselves on mute while others are talking to avoid audio distractions.
Please let us know of any access requirements in your sign up form and we will try to accommodate them as best as we can.
Data
Information provided during your registration to this event is collected in order to process your registration application and to communicate with you about details and joining links for this event. We will not use your data for any other purposes or pass it onto any third parties. You can find our privacy policy here