Our Bodies, Our Stories: Informed Consent

Join us for a Transgender Week of Awareness panel discussion on trans healthcare at 12pm, Monday 14 November on Zoom.

We'll explore the move away from a diagnostic and medicalised model of trans healthcare, to one that is accessible and based on self-autonomy and informed consent.

Meet our panellists:

• Joey MacDonald (they/them), Education Lead at Te Ngākau Kahukura.
  
  Joey has significant experience facilitating conversations about challenging heteronormative white supremacist paradigms and depathologising gender and sexuality. They have worked as a trainer and advocate in mental health and addiction services and delivered education to medical and social work students. As a Pākehā who is queer and non-binary, Joey is particularly invested in valuing the knowledge and experiences of trans, queer, and intersex people as part of creating wider systems change. Joey has an MA in Gender Studies, Sociology and Social Work, has been an Executive Committee Member of PATHA (Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa) from 2019-2022, and is currently one of PATHA’s Strategic Advisors.
  
  

• Cassie Withey-Rila (they/them), Executive Committee Member of PATHA, Assistant Research Fellow at the University of Otago.
  
  Cassie obtained a Master’s of Public Health from the University of Otago, having researched the positive experiences of transgender and gender diverse adults with their GPs in Aotearoa New Zealand. They have a background of volunteer work within trans and queer communities, and are currently working on a project exploring medical crowdfunding, with a focus on crowdfunding for medical transition. They are also a Community Outreach Facilitator at the University of Waikato's Transgender Health Lab, which is undertaking the second Counting Ourselves Survey of trans and non-binary health in Aotearoa.
  
  

• Taongahuru Kopa (she/ia), Intentional Peer Support Specialist at Gender Dynamix.
  
  Taongahuru is a fully trained Intentional Peer Support Specialist (IPSS) at Gender Dynamix, which is a clinical and social organisation meeting the specific mental health service needs of the Bay of Plenty's transgender and non-binary communities. She works as a trans rights advocate, emotional support person, community educator, and more.

Register to receive a Zoom link on the day, and don't forget to put the event in your calendar.

About Transgender Week of Awareness

Transgender Week of Awareness runs from Sunday 13 November to Saturday 19 November. It's a time to celebrate and empower our trans, non-binary and gender diverse whānau.

The week is followed by Transgender Day of Remembrance on Sunday 20 November, which honours the memory of trans people around the world whose lives were taken in acts of anti-transgender violence.

Other Trans Week of Awareness events:

• Our Bodies, Our Stories: Trans Narratives (6.30pm, Thursday 17 November)
• Transgender Day of Remembrance Service (6.30pm, Sunday 20 November)