Stories of identity and becoming: a narrative inquiry into how trans and gender diverse adults aged fifty and over navigate their lives in Britain

Within Britain today, gender identity, which diverges from that assigned at birth, is a source of debate, division and ideology. Intense focus on people identifying as Trans or Gender Diverse (TGD) has led to a growing corpus of research in Britain, notably relating to adolescents and young adults. However, there is less understanding of the lived experience of middle-aged or older adults identifying as TGD with years of experience navigating their identity. Research from America suggests this group experience stigma and fear of rejection because of their so-called ‘transgression’ of cisgender normativity. This rejection is associated with significantly higher risks of poor physical health, disability, depressive symptomatology, stress, substance abuse and suicidality. This study addresses current gaps in the field of research with middle-aged and older adults who identify as TGD. It employs a narrative inquiry methodology which prioritises subjective and intersubjective experience, emphasising social and relational connections within a temporal, social, and geographical context. Central to the creation of narrative is the researcher-participant relationship. I conducted narrative interviews individually with seven participants. The findings were re-presented from these accounts using various analytical approaches, including structural, performative, dialogic, and reflexive thematic analyses. In re-presenting the narratives, I drew creatively on literary techniques, including poetry and fictionalisation. Emerging from this research were rich accounts of the complexity of having to navigate life outwardly as the gender assigned at birth while experiencing the intense need and desire to be a different gender. Britain provides the backdrop to these narratives from the 1960s and 1970s, when being trans was not widely known, to the present day. All participants spoke of the anguish and difficulty they often experienced, not being acknowledged, understood, or able to live as they wanted, instead feeling obliged to conform. Similarly, they referred to the euphoria of being witnessed and recognised by others and an internalised acceptance of themselves. Further emergent themes relate to participants’ interface with healthcare provision and concerns about the impact of legislative and policy changes on the younger TGD community. In foregrounding stories to understand and make meaning of our lives, this study seeks to help counselling psychologists, counsellors and psychotherapists work more meaningfully, inclusively, and relationally with clients identifying as TGD.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

DCPsych

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

DCPsych thesis

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Middlesex University / Metanoia Institute

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Murphy-Diprose, M.T.T.

Identifier

oai:repository.mdx.ac.uk:367y09

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.mdx.ac.uk:367y09