TUNI Luottamuksellinen - Confidential (3Y)
Dear all,
the deadline for the Call for Papers is approaching, and it would be great if you could circulate the CfP on different email lists as a reminder. Also, let's not forget to submit our own papers 😄
Creating new spaces: Nordic Network for LGBTQ+ Research on Health and Living Conditions Conference, 8-9 October 2026, Tampere University
We are happy to invite you to our network’s conference to be held at the Tampere University, Finland, on 8–9 October 2026.
The conference invites us to think together about how we can create and sustain new spaces for collaboration, research ideas, theoretical development and public engagement. These spaces are grounded in the everyday lives, needs, and knowledge of LGBTQI+ people themselves.
At a time when LGBTQI+ rights are under threat across the world and hard-won legal protections are being rolled back, the work is more urgent than ever. This urgency is felt acutely by trans and non-binary people, whose access to healthcare, legal recognition, and social belonging is increasingly contested and often in ways that affect people’s everyday life in multiple ways. Anti-gender movements have not only targeted LGBTQI+ communities from outside, but have actively worked to sow division within them, making solidarity and a commitment to the well-being of all community members a research and political necessity. Research communities can themselves be spaces of hope where knowledge is broadened collectively and connections are built and cultivated across borders and disciplines, but only when that knowledge is rooted in the lived realities and well-being of the communities we work with and within.
This conference is an opportunity for both established and early-career researchers to share ideas, present their work, forge new partnerships, and collectively reflect on Nordic LGBTQI+ health and welfare research. We particularly welcome contributions that push beyond deficit frameworks toward research that takes seriously what thriving, care, and hope look like for gender and sexual minorities.
The keynote on Thursday 8 October by Professor Annie Pullen Sansfaçon addresses the long-term well-being of trans and non-binary youth, including those who detransition, in the context of gender-affirming medical care. The keynote on Friday 9 October by Dr Michael Barron addresses how to support new and emerging activists, and how to stay connected to a sense of possibility, to queer optimism, even when conditions are hard. You can find more information on the keynote speakers here<https://events.tuni.fi/creatingnewspaces/speakers/>.
The suggested papers may deal with – but are not limited to – topics such as:
* Minority stress, resilience, and protective factors among LGBTQI+ people
* Affirmative practice in psychiatry, psychology, social work or related field
* Trans and non-binary health and welfare
* Intersex research
* Minority joy, trans joy and hope-providing care
* Access to and experiences of gender-affirming healthcare
* Older LGBTQI+ adults and care
* HIV/AIDS: histories, ongoing impact, and community responses
* Sexual and reproductive health and rights
* Methodological and theoretical questions in LGBTQI+ health and welfare research
* Research ethics and community accountability
* Migration, mobility and demography
The conference is free for all participants (dinner at the participants’ own expense).
Info: You can find the preliminary program and abstract submission here at the conference website<https://events.tuni.fi/creatingnewspaces/>. Please submit your abstract (max 250 words) by 31 May 2026 by using the submission form<https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=r0Rp-nzM2EyRVMARMn…>. You will be notified of acceptance by 15 June 2026.
We look forward to meeting you in Tampere!
Warm regards,
The Organizing Group and The Nordic Network for LGBTQ+ research on Health and Living Conditions<https://mau.se/en/research/research-centres/centre-for-sexology-and-sexuali…>
The event is organized in collaboration with the Nordic Network for Trans Studies.
I'm sure many of you have received this, but for those who are interested:
________________________________
Från: Josephine Rasmussen <Jrasmussen(a)isdp.eu>
Skickat: Fredag, 22 maj 2026 10:38
Ämne: Webinar invitation: "LGBTQ+ in South Korea and Learning Opportunities from Taiwan"
Du får inte ofta e-post från jrasmussen(a)isdp.eu. Läs om varför det här är viktigt<https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification>
🏳️🌈Join the Institute for Security and Development Policy's Korea and Taiwan center for a one-hour webinar on "LGBTQ+ in South Korea and Learning Opportunities from Taiwan" on June 9th from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. CET (04:00 to 5:00 p.m. CST/05:00 to 6:00 p.m. KST) via Zoom.
👏We are pleased to welcome experts from Taiwan and South Korea, who will take a closer look into the existing political and legislative landscapes in Seoul and Taipei.
👉To learn more and register, just click this link: LGBTQ+ in South Korea and Learning Opportunities from Taiwan - Institute for Security and Development Policy<https://www.isdp.eu/event/lgbtq-in-south-korea-and-learning-opportunities-f…>
Best,
Josephine Ørgaard Rasmussen
Project Manager
Korea Center
Institute for Security and Development Policy
+46 734 15 00 61
www.isdp.eu<http://www.isdp.eu/>
@ISDP_Sweden<https://twitter.com/ISDP_Sweden>
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Dear all,
At our last network meeting in November, we discussed exchanging publications more activly within the network - both to highlight our work and to facilitate referencing each other! I offered to collect publications from the last five years as an initial step, and after that everyone is welcome to use the email list to share new publications as they appearö
Please send me any publications (of all kinds) from the last five years that are relevant to the network's focus on LGBTQ+ research on health and living conditions (interpreted broadly!).
For each publication, please include a full citation to make sure it is easy to list and access for everyone.
I will compile the list in a couple of weeks and send it out to everyone! Looking forward to seeing the breadth of research from our members!
Warmly,
Kiin
- - - - - -
Kiin Catrine Andersson
Associate professor of social work/Docent i socialt arbete
Institutionen för socialt arbete, Malmö universitet
Hälsa och samhälle, 205 06 Malmö
Tfn: 040-665 85 77
Emma von Essen, J Lucas Tilley, and I have published the first study that uses population-wide data to document the share of transgender people who are parents, and their demographics.
The article also contains a review of relevant legal and policy changes affecting transgender people's opportunities for parenthood since the 1970s.
Read the study here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41118-026-00285-4
Bullet point summary:
- About 11% are parents, but the share varies with age, peaking at 41% for trans men aged 45–49 and 43% for trans women aged 50–64, about half the rates of cisgender peers.
- Trans people have children at similar ages and with about the same earnings levels as cis people.
- Trans men often start their transition before becoming parents. Trans women with children usually had them before the transition.
- Since 1990, about 1200 children in Sweden have grown up with a parent who went through a medical gender transition.
/Ylva
_____________________________________________________________________
Ylva Moberg
Researcher at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University.
ylvamoberg.com<https://ebox.su.se/owa/ylvamoberg.com>
Dear colleagues,
Some of you may be interested in my latest book where I describe and reflect on experiences as a queer father in a co-parenting arrangement in Norway. In particular the first chapter is focused on what I call queer parenting.
You can find more about the book here: https://www.routledge.com/Reflections-on-Parenting-from-a-Gestalt-Therapist…
If you are interested in a copy, you can use the discount code 26SMA1
Warmly,
Vikram
Vikram Kolmannskog
Professor, Dr. Philos.
Norwegian Gestalt Institute
Norsk Gestaltinstitutt Høyskole
Kjørbokollen 30, N-1337 Sandvika
www.gestalt.no
My latest book
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More info about the book<https://www.routledge.com/Reflections-on-Parenting-from-a-Gestalt-Therapist…>
Dear all,
Our new article was just published. We have published from the same data before in Finnish, but this is the first publication in English. It tackles social work education from LGBTQI+ perspectives and social work students' attitudes and knowledge gaps in Finland:
Clarke, K., Söderström, I., Sullivan, C. B., & Rossi, L. M. (2026). LGBTQI+ inclusion in Finnish social work education: reality or empty talk? Social Work Education, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2026.2639040
Abstract:
This article explores how homogenising views of equality and the lack of academic research on LGBTQI+ issues in Finnish social work contributes to the invisibility of gender and sexuality topics in social work education. It discusses the Finnish historical context of LGBTQI+ legislation and the struggle for legal equality. The article considers Finnish social work research on LGBTQI+ issues highlighting the shortcomings of social work practice knowledge with these communities. Through a multidimensional survey of master’s-level social work students across five Finnish universities, the study explores students’ attitudes, knowledge, and perceived readiness to work with LGBTQI+ service users. The findings show that students report positive attitudes toward LGBTQI+ people, but they also indicate significant gaps in knowledge, especially regarding structural discrimination and the specific needs of gender and sexual minorities. These gaps were more pronounced among heterosexual students, suggesting that personal identity may play a greater role than formal education in shaping awareness of LGBTQI+ issues. The findings of the limited survey imply the need for more explicit inclusion of LGBTQI+ perspectives in social work curricula, which require further research and pedagogical strategies that promote critical reflection, intersectional analysis, and LGBTQI+ affirmative practice.
Best regards, Ilo Söderström
Ilo Söderström
DSocSci, Postdoctoral researcher
Social Work
Tampere University
Hankkeet / Projects:
Sijaishuollon arjen utopiat: monivähemmistöiset nuoret kuvittelemassa ja tekemässä parempaa tulevaisuutta - Koneen Säätiö<https://koneensaatio.fi/apurahat-ja-residenssipaikat/sijaishuollon-arjen-ut…>
AFFIRM-ED —Affirmative education in social and healthcare for sexual and gender diversity – Nordic collaboration project 2025-2027<https://blogs.helsinki.fi/affirmed-nordic-lgbtqia/>
