Introduction

Contemporary anti- trans political discourse has rendered knowledge of trans history inextricable from trans allyship. Leveraging the idea of trans people's newness – sometimes as a trend which can be trivially dismissed, sometimes as an emergent threat against which new laws must be forged to protect the gender- conforming majority – anti- trans campaigners have politicised the very idea of trans historicity (Heyam, 2022). While it is certainly true that a combination of increased trans visibility and (increasingly fragile) advances in legal equality has resulted in increased numbers coming out as trans and seeking medical transition, the long, global history of non- conforming and de- essentialised conceptualisations of gender is also increasingly well documented (Feinberg, 1994; Stryker, 2017; Raskolnikov et al, 2021; Heyam, 2022). As a result, the ethical and political importance of knowing and talking about the existence of trans history is also increasingly well understood among trans- supportive individuals.

Yet for practitioners working with older trans adults, knowledge of trans history is not simply valuable as part of a generalised ethical commitment to equality and allyship. At a deeper, more systemic level, I want to argue here that knowledge of trans history is an undervalued form of cultural competence in supporting older trans people. As such, it deserves to be understood as an integral part of professional development for practitioners in this area: neither situated as primarily a tactic for combatting anti- trans political arguments, nor confined to focal points such as LGBT+ History Month, but acknowledged as a central element of professional practice.

In framing knowledge of trans history as ‘cultural competence’, I want to align it with other kinds of knowledge necessary for effective, empathetic care: to emphasise that it is of equal value to knowledge of service users’ cultural or religious values and practices and their often culturally specific understandings of themselves and their place in their communities. A lack of cultural competence can lead practitioners to make inaccurate assumptions about those they support, leading to the provision of care that fails to meet their needs. By contrast, developing cultural competence can facilitate person- centred support and build effective relationships between practitioners and those they care for.