Closing

Closing by Jochem Verdonk

Speaker: Jochem Verdonk
Watch the video

 

Dear people,

We came to the end of a special day with very interesting lectures, panels and workshops. Today we have heard a lot, and gained new insights. I am convinced that FREE PATHH will resonate for a long time in many of us.

In closing, I would like to share with you four conclusions:

Conclusions

  1. FREE PATHH proves that a lot is possible with few resources and little people. Today we delivered a signal that can't be ignored. We got a lot of (moral) support of individual trans activists, from GATE, and also from visitors of the symposium of the WPATH.
    Participants in the symposium of the WPATH know very well that FREE PATHH is today. This has a psychological effect on both "professionals" and transgender people. We can be proud of what we have achieved today!
     
  2. The difference in scale and number of visitors between FREE PATHH and WPATH is very large. This shows a difference in resources and power, that has emerged since the beginning of trans health care and still exists.

    However, in recent years, much has been improved:
    • Transgender Europe exists for 10 years, and has an increasing impact at a European level.
    • GATE, Global Action for Trans* Equality, also gets an increasing impact on world level.
    • The WPATH can no longer ignore trans professionals and trans activists.
    • The gender teams and others can't ignore transgender people, not individually and not as a group

    At the same time, we still have a long way to go, because we still aren't often seen as the underappreciated partner that we are.
     
  3. It is clear that essential knowledge about trans health care and human rights is only known in a limited group. Each transgender still has to reinvent the wheel, and that is a extraordinary pity! There is a great need for objective and critical information from users; for and by transgender people.
    What was discussed today will be processed and be made available on our website in the following weeks. Bilingual and free, of course, so that it is easily accessible for everyone! So, check our website www.freepathh.nl.
     
  4. Today we have discussed many important topics and subjects. Many other important topics for which there is still need for, didn't fit into the programme. In short, a lot is wrong in trans health care. And many other issues simply can be (and should be) much better.
    It seems that FREE PATHH should not be a one-time symposium. It would be very good if today would be the start of a new tradition. How, what and where we can and want to continue, is something we have to talk to each other about in the upcoming months.

Evening programme

FREE PATHH is not quite over yet, because TranScreen provides a programme in the evening.

Anyone who wants, can enjoy a vegan dinner at Vrankrijk, from 19:00 to 20:30. The address is Spuistraat 216.

From 21:00 to 22:00 the documentary Transgender Tuesdays by Mark Freeman will be screened. This film is about the life of eight patients who came to the first gender clinic in the US.

From 22:00, a party is held with a karaoke sing-a-long, and later in the evening, DJ Alex from Utrecht, and DJ P.P. and DJ Ella Ella from Nijmegen will perform.

Thank you very much!

Video

FREE PATHH sluiting / closing (Dutch & English) from FREE PATHH on Vimeo.