The Need for a Journal of Transgender and Gender Variant Healthcare Rooted in the Global South

The need for a journal of transgender and gender variant healthcare rooted in the global south

Launching a journal dedicated to transgender health and gender-affirming care from India is more than an academic milestone; it is a long-overdue commitment to a community whose healthcare needs have been historically overlooked, misunderstood, or spoken for by others. A publication emerging from this region carries a particular weight. It reflects the realities of a vast and diverse population, the challenges of a developing healthcare system, and the lived experiences of people whose voices have rarely shaped the global conversation.

Why this journal matters

For years, clinicians and researchers in India and across the Global South have worked with limited local data, relying heavily on Western literature that does not always translate to our socio-cultural or legal contexts. A journal rooted in this region can finally begin to correct that imbalance. It can document what practitioners are seeing on the ground—patterns of care, barriers, innovations, and outcomes that simply do not appear in international publications.

Such a platform also creates space for conversations that extend beyond medicine. Transgender health in India is inseparable from questions of law, stigma, strong familial structures, and access to basic rights. There is also a cultural divide with vast differences if one looks at the differences between rural India with an inherently rigid patriarchal intolerant structure and the metro cities, which have a tolerant cosmopolitan fabric, resembling a global viewpoint. A journal that acknowledges these intersections can help shape a realistic and humane understanding of what “care” truly means.

A message to authors

If you are considering contributing, know that your work does not need to be grand or perfect to be valuable. A carefully documented case series from a district hospital, a thoughtful reflection on community engagement, or a small but well-designed study can be just as impactful as large multicentric trials. What matters is honesty, clarity, and a genuine desire to improve care.

We especially encourage authors to bring their local realities into the conversation. India is not a monolith, and neither is transgender healthcare. The challenges faced in a metropolitan gender clinic differ greatly from those in rural practice. Both perspectives deserve to be recorded and shared.

Ethical, respectful research is non-negotiable. Our communities have endured enough misrepresentation. Let your work reflect dignity, transparency, and a willingness to listen.

Looking ahead

Our hope is that this journal becomes a meeting point, where clinicians, researchers, community leaders, and policymakers can learn from one another. If we succeed, it will not be because of any single article or issue, but because a diverse group of contributors chose to document their experiences and insights with sincerity.

This is an invitation to be part of that effort. Your scholarship can help shape a future in which gender-affirming care is not a privilege, but a standard of compassionate, inclusive, and evidence-based healthcare globally.