Response to “A critique of Trans people's partnerships: towards an ethics of intimacy”

In response to Richards and Lenihan's review of my book, Trans people's partnerships (this issue), I would like to firstly thank them for their thorough and very thought-provoking critique. As the purpose of this book was to encourage the rethinking of intimate life, I like to believe that it will provoke a range of reactions from the reader, which, in one way or another, will further dialogue around what intimate life is and could be. There are a number of points I wish to address in my response. My aim here is both to engage with the authors’ concerns and to consider the potential for further research contained therein. Trans people's partnerships is, for those who have not read the book, based upon my doctoral research project, which was carried out in the UK between 2002 and 2006. I interviewed both trans people and their partners and used Foucault's notion of governmentality as my theoretical framework. I expanded my theoretical approach to include relationality and what I term “the ethics of intimacy” when writing the book. I see my work much as I see gender identity and sexuality – as fluid and never set in stone. This means that I am always open to critique and rethinking my own approach where necessary. This critique is also potentially useful in determining important new areas of research.