"Monthly Notes" #4 from WPATH President Lin Fraser

Dear WPATH Members,

As I travel, I am continually reminded of the kind of people who do the work we do. We are all people who are dedicated, passionate and eager to exchange ideas. I am fresh off the plane from beautiful Ghent, Belgium, where the WPATH Board of Directors met for our annual meeting and phase one of some long-term strategic planning. While there, we had the opportunity to meet the people from the Ghent gender team as well as the leadership of the Amsterdam 2016 Symposium, enthusiastic professionals all. We were warmly received and well cared for, thanks to the kindness and thoughtful planning of Board member Griet DeCuypere. I came away, once again, reminded of the extent of WPATH's global reach and of our leadership role in the work of creating a better world for transsexual, transgender and gender nonconforming people.

During our two-day meeting, we had a chance to reflect on our history and to analyze our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). One consistently emerging theme was that a major strength of the association is and has been the quality of our people. We also had the opportunity to come together as a board, both at work and at play (and on Skype! for one of the three board members who were unable to attend in person). I came away even more appreciative of each person's unique contribution to the WPATH leadership. Click on the link below to view the Board at dinner after two days of meetings:

While in Ghent, we reiterated our primary identity as a professional association, strengthened by the synergy of an international multidisciplinary membership to promote evidence-based research and care.

I want to briefly outline the summarized results of our SWOT analysis (the actual lists were quite long) and would appreciate hearing any additions you might have.

WPATH strengths include: dedicated, pioneering and multidisciplinary professionals, recognized expertise in the field, regular global meetings, evidence-based SOC, financial stability, cohesion around a common cause and longevity. Our weaknesses include: not being balanced globally and professionally, not enough members in the Global South, not enough diversity and an imbalance among the disciplines. Although we are financially stable, we only just meet our annual expenses, and need more funding to respond to requests from our members (and others) for more education, training and sponsorship of international research. We are also too thin on science.

Our opportunities include building on our strengths and capitalizing on our legislative victories. We have opportunities to apply for funding to develop methodologies and materials for education. Our rising profile yields new and stronger networks and partnerships for education and research. Our threats include not being able to manage expectations (both of our members and of the transsexual and transgender communities), and sometimes being perceived as purely an advocacy rather than as a professional association that develops and promotes the evidence-base on which best practices in treatment rely and from which advocacy can follow. The perception that we are only an advocacy organization diminishes our clout in courts and our authority in developing policy and healthcare guidelines. As board member Randi Ettner said, "our advocacy must follow the science".

After discussing the history of the association, our 2006 Strategic Plan and the SWOT analysis, we tweaked our Mission Statement to be more inclusive, and revised our Vision Statement and started revising our Goals. The Mission Statement describes who we are today, the reason for our being. The Vision describes a more pie-in-the sky, how we would like our world to be. The goals are then derived from our Mission and Vision and are built on action statements.

The current Mission Statement on the web site is:

As an international multidisciplinary professional Association the mission of WPATH is to promote evidence based care, education, research, advocacy, public policy and respect in transgender health.

Our new proposed Mission Statement is:

As an international multidisciplinary professional Association, the mission of WPATH is to promote evidence-based care, education, research, advocacy, public policy and respect in transsexual and transgender health.

Our current Vision Statement is:

The vision of WPATH is to bring together diverse professionals dedicated to developing best practices and supportive policies worldwide that promote health, research, education, respect, dignity, and equality for transgender, transsexual, and gender-variant people in all cultural settings.

Our proposed Vision Statement is:

We envision a world wherein transsexual, transgender and gender non-conforming people benefit from access to evidence-based health care, social services, justice and equality.

Some of our (roughly stated) proposed Goals are:

To be the worldwide authority on transsexual and transgender health

To bring together multi-disciplinary professionals

To educate and train

To expand our global reach

To develop evidenced-based health care guidelines and policy

To improve cultural and clinical competence

To partner with a variety of organizations (governmental and civil society groups)

To support and advise selected advocacy efforts

To advance knowledge through research

To develop and promote the Standards of Care and policy positions

To combat stigma

From these goals, we plan to develop specific strategies. As evidenced above, the board's emphasis is on global growth and expansion, whether that emphasis is to partner more globally, strengthen international research networks, or develop global training tools and strategies, all in service to our mission and vision to advance the field of transsexual and transgender health.

We had a productive and busy two and one-half days and I will tell you more in the May notes. It was a very good meeting.

In other news, I am happy to report that the International Translation Fund effort is off to a very good start. Thanks so much to those who have already contributed and to GIRES for providing the initial grant.

Finally, please send me your thoughts on the mission, vision, and goals coming out of Ghent or your ideas about anything else. Some people have been introducing themselves to me via email and telling me a little about why they have joined WPATH, and I truly appreciate that as well. As I've said, I'd like to meet every one of you, so please make yourselves known to me.

My final thought is that the future looks very bright indeed. Thanks to all!

My best,


Lin Fraser
WPATH President