Let’s explore (our) gender!

Elodie Lyra Downward

Experience, common misconceptions, statistics.

50 something trans non binary cyclist, student, activist, advocate, enjoyer of coffee, picnics and cake.
I’m training to be a counsellor/therapist, and will specialise in helping lgbtq+ clients.
I run the trans cyclist collective instagram page.

Baudewijntje Kreukels

Gender development: a biopsychosocial perspective

In research, we have seen a shift in perspective in the evaluation of gender development. In the seventies of last century, studies mainly focused on social factors (nurture), in the beginning of this century on biological factors (nature). Nowadays, we try to study gender development from a biopsychosocial perspective, although it is not easy to disentangle the various factors and their interplay. From brain imaging research in the transgender population we learn that there is no single explanation for findings in people experiencing gender incongruence. Findings rather reflect the diversity we see in daily life.

In transgender health care we see an enormous increase in referral rates in recent years. Also, in studies in the general population we see an increase in the number of people with a gender diverse or transgender identity. Here explanations from various perspectives should be sought as well.

In this presentation I will give an overview of current knowledge regarding factors that play a role in gender development and discuss findings regarding increases in referrals for gender affirming care.

Patri Roa Johansen

Patri Roa Johansen is a drag king, musician, artist and community-builder. He is one of the founding members of House of Løstbois. House of Løstbois is an Amsterdam-based drag king collective that grew out of a drag king academy. What initially began as creative research on gender, led to much more: a community, a support system, a family. Now he is known as the flirty realness Drag King – LatinX Charm, a source of joy that gives Latin Vibes like no other.