ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the literature on the topic of transgender people and intimate relationships, and focuses on findings from an Australian qualitative study. It gives recommendations derived from these findings for clinicians who work with transgender clients. The chapter emphasises the effects of cisgenderism upon transgender people in terms of intimacy. It discusses the effects of gender dysphoria upon some transgender people's capacity to negotiate intimate relationships. The chapter highlights the impact of medical aspects of transitioning upon some transgender people's experiences of intimacy. It also emphasises the unique and positive ways that many transgender people negotiate intimate relationships. Cisgenderism is defined as the "the ideology that delegitimizes people's own understanding of their genders and bodies". The chapter presents the findings that make a significant contribution to the developing focus on intimacy within the field of transgender studies.
