The WPATH Gold Medal
The WPATH Gold Medal is the most prestigious honor awarded by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). The WPATH Gold Medal is awarded once every two years at the WPATH Biennial Scientific Symposium if an eligible application and awardee is selected.
WPATH Gold Medals are awarded to an individual(s) or an organization(s), who have made a major contribution to global transgender health.
The criteria for the WPATH Gold Medal is presented below:
- The nomination should be submitted by a minimum of 4 WPATH members in good standing, each who have been a WPATH member for a minimum of 10 years.
- The recommendations are submitted to the President, Secretary and Executive Director through the online application.
- Nominations are due on or before May 31 of the symposium year (2024, 2026, 2028, etc.)
- Nominations are then passed to the previously awarded WPATH Gold Medal Holders, this group selects the recipient(s) of the Gold Medal. When the number of previous WPATH Gold Medal Holders exceeds 8, a subgroup of those gold medal holders, and a chairperson will be agreed upon and will serve as the selection committee for that year.
- The recommendation for the WPATH Gold Medal (maximum of 3 in any 2-year period) will then be fed back to the Executive Committee for endorsement.
- The Executive Committee can make further recommendations if less than 3 nominations are submitted by WPATH members.
- The WPATH Gold Medal Award Committee encourages diverse representation, inclusive of a variety of disciplines, countries, personal background and gender.
- The nominations for the Inaugural WPATH Gold Medal were passed to the Executive Committee for selection as there were no existing holders of the WPATH Gold Medal in March 2022.
- The nominees should have the following characteristics:
- Be a WPATH member in good standing.
- Been working in the field of transgender health (in its broadest sense) for at least 10 years.
- Nominees are selected based on documented evidence of exceptional global achievement within the field of transgender health.
The 2022 WPATH Gold Medal was commissioned to be designed and created in by Puck Eigenmann, a goldsmith and jewelry designer, whose studio is located in The Hague, The Netherlands. Actual awards presented will vary year to year.