Gender-nonconformity and the quest for 'recognition' in the United Kingdom, from the 1970s to thepresent day

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The project will research the changing nature of gender-nonconformity in Britain from the 1970s to the present, looking specifically at the inter-connections between expressions of personal gender identity and broader societal and political struggles to achieve formal recognition of these identities. It asks how and why an organized transgender rights movement emerged in the previous five decades; why recognition became the defining issue in these campaigns; and what it means for transgender people to be recognized socially, legally, medically, and politically. By exploring these questions this project will be the first study to historicize gender-nonconformity and the British trans rights movement in historical context.The research will be based on archival sources at the Museum of Transology, the Lesbian and Gay News Media Archive, the Hall-Carpenter Archives, the collections of Queer Beyond London, the Transgender Archives in Canada, and the records of trans campaign groups like Press for Change. I will also conduct a programme of oral history interviews with influential or publicly prominent trans activists like Christine Burns, Stephen Whittle, and Lily Madigan, as well as policy-makers, doctors, journalists, and others who have helped to shape British trans life.This project stems from a long-standing interest in identity-formation, gender, and sexuality amongst people living at the margins of society. My undergraduate History dissertation at the University of Cambridge, 'Attitudes to Homosexuality among Conservative Politicians during the 1950s,' focussed on the construction of 'respectable' homosexual identities through dialogue with the political establishment. I graduated with a first-class degree, and subsequently wrote one of my MPhil research essays on British engagement with German sexology in the early twentieth century. My MPhil dissertation continued on this theme of marginalization and identity by researching the empowerment of economically deprived communities through maritime heritage. I expanded my skillset into oral and material history, received a Distinction, and adapted the research into an article published in the International Journal of Heritage Studies. I have worked extensively in the heritage sector, including a major Heritage Lottery Funded project in Essex, where I strengthened both my project-management skills and my ability to makespecialist research appealing to wide audiences.