The Platform Diversity in Sex and Gender (Radboud University and Radboudumc) has received a grant for a new project. With an interdisciplinary team - which also includes communication experts - research will be conducted next year into explanations for the increase in the demand for transgender care. ‘This is not just a medical issue. It is certainly also a social issue.' Recently, the demand for transgender care in the Netherlands has increased substantially. The nature of the demand for care has also changed. Various explanations have been given for this, but there is no scientific basis. And this is indispensable, according to the researchers of the Platform Diversity in Sex and Gender of the Radboud University and Radboudumc Nijmegen. ‘By gaining insight into the reasons for the increase and in the underlying social processes, we can, for instance, examine how waiting times in transgender care can be reduced and whether more variety in the offered care can be realised', says Enny Das, professor of communication and influence. Research Platform Diversity in Sex and GenderThe Platform Diversity in Sex and Gender has been active since 2019. Its aim is to bundle knowledge and expertise on intersex and trans gender themes from different academic disciplines. The project aims to bring together insights from gender and transgender studies, social sciences, ethics, language and communication sciences and political science with medical discussions. The platform grounds its work on the experiences and needs of intersex and trans people. To this end, the researchers work together structurally with trans and intersex people, interest groups and other stakeholders. Involved in the platform are: Radboud Expertise Centre for Gender (REG&G), and the faculties of Medicine, Management Science and Arts of Radboud University. Political call The platform recently received a grant from ZonMW for the project Recent increase in treatment requests for transgender care. Das says: 'With this research we answer the call of politicians to find an explanation for the increase in the demand for transgender care. This is currently a tricky topic in Dutch politics'. Adults, but also increasingly children and adolescents, call for transgender care more than the capacity allows, resulting in waiting lists. At the same time, there is dissatisfaction among transgender people about the existing care trajectories and the existing care on offer. ‘With this platform, we can look at this issue from many perspectives. For a long time, people only looked at it from a medical perspective, but it is not only medical. It is also social,' says Wyke Stommel, associate professor of language & communication. ‘That is why it is very important to do interdisciplinary research into it. There is no single explanation for the increase in the need for transgender care.' Sensitive subject In five subprojects, the group will conduct interdisciplinary research on the increase, using insights from gender studies, transgender studies, political science, clinical psychology and communication and information science. From the start, there is active collaboration with all stakeholders. ‘That is very exciting', says Das. ‘Gender is a sensitive topic. What terms and labels you use matters a lot. They have different meanings for different people.' Stommel and Das will approach the issue from the angle of communication and information science. Stommel: 'In one of the subprojects we apply conversation and content analyses to focus groups with people who have had experiences with transgender care in different ways. For example, because they are on the waiting list, or are in treatment, or because their child received the diagnosis “gender incongruence”. But the focus groups will also involve care providers. We will pay close attention to how people interactionally navigate all kinds of norms and sensitivities related to transgender care.’ Attention in the media In another subproject, Das will focus on analysing (social) media. ‘With the increasing social attention on gender and transgender issues, the attention on TV and in newspapers has increased as well’, Das explains. ‘The messages on these channels can provide insight into what characterizes the public debate around gender and transgender issues. In addition, social media such as Facebook and Instagram allow people to exchange information and advice on specific topics such as gender.' Das will therefore focus on the question of whether there have been any changes in the level of attention paid to gender and transgender issues in traditional and social media between 2011 and 2021. The project Recent increase in treatment questions transgender care will be carried out in 2022. Das: 'The question is whether there really is an increase. Are there really more transgender people or is the number the same, but do they perhaps dare to come out now? With this project we hope to make the first step towards a scientifically founded explanation.’ Photo: Sharon McCutcheon via Unsplash