| Abstrakt: |
Questioning the 'new age of austerity' relies on an (implicit) understanding of a previous era where something other than 'cuts' were occurring. During the early part of the 21st century in the United Kingdom, not only did lesbians and gay men gain significant rights including equalities in the provision of goods and services, civil partnerships and so on, by the end of the New Labour era in 2010, 'transsexual' had become a legally 'protected characteristic' under the Equalities Act.1 Yet these new legislative gains were not uniformly experienced, practiced and deployed. This paper explores the ways in which initiatives played out 'on the ground', engaging with the possibilities, as well as the problems, of new equalities landscapes. Using the Count Me In Too research (see www.countmeintoo.co.uk), we examine progress in trans 'rights', whilst simultaneously identifying the ongoing harm trans people experienced through gaining these 'rights'. More specifically, we critically appraise 'treatment' pathways and public funding, arguing that whilst these are positive and welcomed, they are also flawed in their implementation, as well as their conceptual basis. Continuing from this, we contend that critical academies/ academics need a spatially informed consideration of 'new normativities', while being wary of forgetting the positives while they are happening, and romanticising them when they are in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
