Gender identity is a rich and complex area of human development. At this event Domenico Di Ceglie, Founder and Former Director of the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) explored three cases to describe Atypical Gender Development and their implications for decision-making, autonomy and physical interventions. This talk was chaired by Polly Carmichael, Director of GIDS, and included reflections from Felix Moore, a transgender young person, and Rowan Moore, his father.

“During his career, French painter Bonnard revisited and revised some of his paintings over a long period of time. In this talk, I follow the same method and describe three cases presenting with Atypical Gender Identity Development seen in psychotherapy. I will show how experience contributed to thinking behind the early model of care of GIDS, which was founded in 1989.

“The first case shows that I was fundamentally dealing with a developing gender identity long before new identities were legally recognised. The therapeutic work would have to take on board the implication of this understanding. This led to the definition of the therapeutic aims which were originally published in in the proceedings of a conference in 1992. The word ‘therapeutic’ is used in the sense of promoting wellbeing.

“The second case shows a clip from a documentary released on Channel 4 in 1995. The interaction during a session illustrates the difference between strongly held beliefs regarding gender identity and imagination. It demonstrated the difference between solid identities and identities which could be fluid and changeable. This understanding has implications for considering physical interventions.

“The third case highlights the so called ‘network model of management’ in children and adolescents with atypical gender development and addresses issues of autonomy in the decision-making process.”

DOMENICO DI CEGLIE was the Founder and Former Director of GIDS.

POLLY CARMICHAEL is the Director of GIDS

FELIX MOORE is a transgender, autistic actor and activist who trained at Drama Studio London. He played the lead role of Adrian in Rotterdam for BBC Radio 3 and has appeared on the Today Programme, in the Daily Telegraph and at the annual conference Autism: A Hands On Approach to discuss transgender and autistic issues.

ROWAN MOORE is Architecture Critic of The Observer. He was formerly Director of the Architecture Foundation, Architecture Critic of the Evening Standard and Editor of Blueprint magazine. His books include Slow Burn City, which explores the unprecedented transformations of London in the 21st century, and Why We Build.