Lisa Williamson: 'I have met so many young transgender people living happy, hopeful lives'

http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2016/jan/22/lisa-williamson-art-of-being-normal-transgender-protagonist

The Guardian/Lisa Williamson, ReluctantWriter, Scrupulous Semicolons Friday 22 January 2016 08.39 EST 

"In August 2010 I started working as an administrator at the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock Centre in North London. GIDS is the NHS service for under-18s struggling with the development of their gender identity. One of my tasks was to audio type notes from therapy sessions and I quickly became familar with dozens and dozens of cases, every one of them different and complex. The stories I heard made me think about gender and identity in a totally different way and I felt moved on a daily basis. This got me thinking, if I was moved, perhaps others would be too, and I started to consider the possibility of writing a story from the point of view of a young transgender person."