What should I know?
According to the United Nations, as a young person you have a right to health and healthcare and also to identity and freedom of expression. This means that you should be supported to understand different aspects of your health and wellbeing, to feel comfortable with yourself, and to explore different ways of expressing yourself.
What might help me?
- Safe space to explore your gender, appearance, and self expression e.g. clothes, safe use of items such as binders
- Being around other LGBTQ+ young people with (gender) non-conforming bodily expression
- Being able to access inclusive activities, such as swimming or climbing, in ways that feel safe for you
Resources
Right to health and health services (Article 24)
Right to your identity (Article 8)
Freedom of expression (Article 13)
Kai* (young person) said “health services finding out I’m trans and ‘oh just out of personal curiosity’ a million inappropriate questions they didn’t need to ask me because ‘oo let’s ask the medical curiosity some stuff while they’re here’ attitude. So having someone be like ‘oh yeah, I get that completely’ and not have to have a whole discussion on it really changed my opinion on counselling and has been super beneficial to me.”
*These quotations use pseudonyms and have been anonymised to protect participant’s identity.
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