Barbara Ross (1929 – 16 February 2015) was a social worker and gender counsellor, noted for her work for the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

community in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Early life

Barbara Gladys Ross was born in Essex in 1929, and moved to London on marrying her first husband. She qualified as a social worker, gaining significant experience in London's East End between 1950 and 1970. Ross moved to Norfolk in 1970 with her second husband, and lived in the village of

Stoke Holy Cross Stoke Holy Cross is a village in South Norfolk which lies approximately south of Norwich. Geography Stoke sits on the River Tas. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,568 in 674 households at the 2001 census. The village is access ...

Career

In 1974, Ross' career in gender counselling began with a referral from a fellow social worker, who asked her to see "a strange young man who is probably gay". This individual's gender dysphoria, and subsequent death by suicide, prompted Ross' efforts to provide focused support for transgender people. Ross founded the Norfolk-based Gender Identity Services, through which she worked to provide medical advice and psychological support. In the early 1980s, she founded OASIS: a support group for trans people and their partners, family and friends, providing an environment of mutual support and friendship. In 2001, Ross organised the first International Transgender Conference, held at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

. This developed into a biennial series, bringing together experts from across the world. The Barbara Ross Association was established in 2009 to continue Ross' work, including the running of the Transgender Conferences and Oasis. The conferences continued until 2016. In 2007, Ross was nominated for the Outstanding Achiever of the Year 2006 award, one of the Department of Health's annual Health and Social Care Awards. In 2011, she received an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

"for services to Gender Dysphoria".

Legacy

In 2021, Ross was among the women selected by Norwich-based group Rosie's Plaques to be featured on stones painted and left around the city, honouring local women on International Women's Day. In 2024, theatre and activist group The Common Lot named an alley for Ross as part of the project "Rename the Streets!".

External links

Oasis Norfolk

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ross, barbara 1929 births 2015 deaths English LGBTQ rights activists English social workers People from Essex Transgender rights activists Officers of the Order of the British Empire