ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the principles of a queer approach, demonstrating the value of the concept 'queer' for critical developmental psychology perspectives and illustrating how gender identity disorder in childhood (GIDC) has emerged as a category of concern for queer studies. The contribution of psychological knowledge and practice to contemporary understandings of gender variance in childhood is organised into three themes. The first theme outlines development theories of gender identity, the second theme explores contemporary debates about diagnosis and treatment, and the role of managing gender uncertainty in childhood. The third theme examines a recent trajectory that seeks to understand the impact of minority stress on young trans people, with a focus on mental health and social inequality. The chapter explains the importance of listening to the complexity and variation of trans youth voices as they shape their own understandings of what it means to be different and how they find ways to live inside and out of dominant gender norms.
