Transgender Good Practice

Rural & Transport Issues

The experience of being a transgender person living in an extremely rural location such as the Scottish highlands or islands can differ significantly from the experience of being a transgender person living in or near Edinburgh or Glasgow.  There is likely to be less anonymity in a small rural community and less options for seeking a new set of friends if a person’s existing friends react badly to them revealing that they are transgender.  The likelihood of having other transgender people nearby is reduced so any sharing of experiences and issues with other transgender people is more likely to take place via email rather than in person.  Finding out about gender specialists is more difficult as they are located further away and it may be very expensive, time-consuming and awkward to travel to gender specialist appointments.  If a transgender person living in an extremely rural location finds that their GP is not supportive of their transgender identity, then trying to change GP may be almost impossible if there are no other GPs within reasonable travelling distance.

The high likelihood that transgender people living in rural locations will have to use travel long distances to see gender specialists or to attend transgender groups or LGBT events, is the reason that this section combines rural issues together with transport issues.  However, we recognise that even transgender people living in central Edinburgh or Glasgow may experience issues of transphobic harassment while using public transport.