As long as being Trans' remains socially stigmatised those who engage in relationships with them may find themselves stigmatised by association - wherever their sexual identity and orientation resides. This brings a unique layer of struggles for partners, beyond any issues within the relationship itself, such as the silencing of celebration.

Lev notes that "Transgendered people and their spouses can make compromises that will enable both partners to remain in their marriages and this can be a healthy decision for some people" (2004: 287); yet there's obviously stark contrast between negotiating balance and being compromised. There's also the question of those who are in existing gay partnerships - is being "queer squared" easier? And what about those who knowingly engage in relationship with the Trans' population - are they mega-queers for whom relating must be seamlessly smooth?

This workshop will draw on the personal and professional experiences of the facilitator, providing an enlightening whistle stop tour of the issues arising for those partnering trans-identified and trans-historied people, plus provide time to explore in greater depth, via case studies and discussion, some of the most common struggles including

Reframing sexual desires and intimate practices
The de-construction and co-construction of sexual identity
and
Transgressing the boundaries of partnership

Click here for more information

This workshop facilitated by Dr Meg Barker co-editor of Safe, Sane and Consensual, (Palgrave) encourages participants to reflect on their own belief systems around BDSM. It examines the variety of 'kinky' practices, drawing on existential approaches to consider the multiple meanings these may have for clients. Common myths around BDSM are challenged and the most up-to-date research on BDSM presented. Attendees consider various case-studies to think about how they might work with kinky/BDSM clients, including those whose identity/practice is unrelated to their presenting problem, those who are concerned about their identity/practice, and those who regard their identity/practice as linked to the therapeutic experience. Relationships between BDSM and self-harming practices will also be explored.

When Nadia Almada first teetered into Channel Four's Big Brother house on impossibly high heels, in the summer of 2004, TV viewers in Britain had probably never seen more than a few minutes of any real transsexual person on their screens before.

Activists and lawyers at the time were nursing Britain's Gender Recognition Bill through Parliament, and there was momentary concern about what kind of person this unknown quantity was.

They needn't have worried. Within days the young Portuguese woman soon had people's attention, as her immense personality, piercing laugh and manifest vulnerability took viewers on a roller coaster ride of emotions, in which her transsexual background was sometimes the focus but often pushed to the background by other dramas.

Nadia won that fifth series of Big Brother in a landslide victory that carried millions on a wave of emotion, sharing her dramatic realisation of public acceptance.

In 2010 Nadia returned to Big Brother for a celebration show with other popular or controversial housemates. The return was not such a happy event.

Three weeks after that event she agreed to give an in-depth interview  to veteran Trans Campaigner Christine Burns MBE and talks here about her childhood, changing gender, those television experiences and much more too.

Folow this link to listen to the interview