It's a Journey: A graphic medicine exploration of endometriosis and gender diversity

It’s A Journey. has been a community-based journey, from inception to final print. We hope that through these pages you will be able to appreciate the transformative potential of participatory action health research. Our wish was to re-centre the voices and experiences of marginalised communities, not only to offer a more comprehensive understanding of their needs, but also to actively re-empower them in the pursuit of social and health justice. Working from a community perspective is more than a methodological necessity; it is a form of resistance against systemic oppression, a means of enduring in the face of discrimination, and a path toward collective thriving.

Through this work, we wish to reaffirm that true progress in health and social equity can only be achieved when communities are not just subjects of research, but active partners in shaping their futures.

It’s A Journey. is a piece of graphic medicine – a genre that blends the narrative power of graphic novels with the rigour of medical and health-related content. Graphic medicine is a revolutionary medium (not to mention extremely fun and engaging to work with!) because it translates complex and often inaccessible medical knowledge into emotionally resonant, relatable, and thus more understandable, content. By telling stories in images, we hope to engage people on a deeper level – one where clinical language often falls short in describing the complexity of such journeys of chronic illness and gender diversity.

As we have done with many projects at Treat it Queer, we have tried once again to bridge the gap between the world of academia and the communities that we study – and of which we are an active part of. Too often, research remains confined within the walls of academic institutions, inaccessible to those who could benefit most from its findings. This book is an attempt to counteract those extractive research practices by translating our findings into a more accessible format that brings the research back to the community. We believe that academic research should not just reside in journals or conference presentations but can and should be translated into creative media whose reach can extend far beyond the borders of academics.

But a picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes, and so without further ado, please enjoy the story of Colt, as they navigate the intricacies, challenges, and triumphs of growing up, and of life as a gender-diverse person with endometriosis.