- Journal
- Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies
- ISSN
- 2769-2124
- Publisher
- Northwestern University Libraries
- License
- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
- Description
- The Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies is the leading venue for academic research addressing the social, cultural, and political issues facing transgender and gender minority communities across the globe. The journal offers a platinum open access forum for research of all theoretical and methodological approaches oriented toward the identification, analysis, and improvement of the material conditions of transgender life.
Browse Articles
#nonbinary gender
#social harm
#higher education
#transgender
#erasure
Understanding Nonbinary Student and Staff Experiences of Higher Education in the UK as Social Harm
Raf Benato, Avi Boukli, Jennifer Fraser, Francis Ray White | December 15, 2024
Transgender inclusion is an increasingly prominent part of “equality, diversity, and inclusion” agendas in higher education. However, there has been little attention to the specific experiences of nonbinary students and staff. This article seeks to redress this and draws on data from an online survey conducted in 2019 of UK nonbinary higher education staff and students. The survey data highlight the importance participants attach to having their gender known and respected in their higher education institution, but also contained pervasive reports of erasure, invisibility, and ridicule in their work and/or study lives. We analyze these experiences through the lens of social harm in order to focus on the institutional norms, structures and practices that shape nonbinary experiences of higher education, and to counteract narratives of vulnerability/victimhood. Our analysis demonstrates the interconnections between mechanisms of harm in higher education, effects of harm as manifested in reports of exhaustion, distress, and fear, and the strategies nonbinary people engage in to mitigate or resist harm.
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#gender-affirming care
#transgender
#informed consent
#medical authority
#decision-making
#autonomy
The Role of Risk and Uncertainty
Kat Jacobsen | June 28, 2024
Historically, gender-affirming medical care has been provided through an assessment-based model of care that prioritizes the clinician's expertise and authority over the trans individual's desires or lived experience, whichhas been widely critiqued by trans communities. More recently, informed consent approaches that de-emphasize formal mental health assessments are becoming increasingly common in gender-affirming care. However, previous research has found that many gender-affirming care providers continue to practice gatekeeping despite using the language of informed consent. In this article, I analyze the tensions between medical authority and patient autonomy in the recently updated 8<sup>th</sup> edition of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care (SOC-8). I find that while the SOC-8 generally supports informed consent models, when faced with heightened risk or uncertainty, the SOC-8 reverts to an assessment-based model of care that reinforces medical authority and compromises trans people's autonomy. I argue that without deconstructing the assumed authority and expertise of healthcare providers, we cannot achieve fully equitable and accessible gender-affirming care. Specifically, gender-affirming care providers must practice epistemic humility and value trans peoples' lived experience as legitimate sources of knowledge. I suggest strategies for teaching clinicians to value trans people's autonomy and embodied knowledge.
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#transgender law and litigation
#gender identity adjudication
#transgender legal cases
#judicial interpretation of gender
#gender normativity in court
Julian Applebaum | December 15, 2023
As the number of transgender legal cases reaching American courts increases, a growing body of scholarship has begun to examine how judges and institutions struggle to reconcile gender variance in a system with deeply entrenched gender normativity. Scholars have examined how judges become the interpreters of gender when presiding over cases concerning transgender inclusion and civil rights, constructing narratives of what it means to be transgender and codifying it as law. This paper presents a novel systematic analysis of judicial frameworks courts use to adjudicate gender identity. Analyzing 70 court opinions from 1966 to 2022, I examine how judges rhetorically describe gender variance and gender variant people to anchor them within deeply entrenched gender normativity. Updating and recontextualizing past scholarship within the current post-Bostock transgender rights crisis, I present a typology of four categories of judicial interpretation---biological gender essentialism, medicalism, assimilationism, and deferential to the litigant---and note other rhetorical and juridical trends for interpreting gender variance. I argue that the frameworks that most likely lead to a trans litigant's victory are ones which reify the gender binary and pathologize transgender people, and discuss the problematics of that success.
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#research ethics
#accountability
#trans studies
#research design
#gender identity
Challenges and Recommendations for Change
Zack Marshall, Chris Kaposy, Fern Brunger, Vivian Welch | December 16, 2022
The field of research that includes transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse (collectively, trans) people is expanding. In early research, trans people were often the objects of study. As trans studies evolves, community members are turning a critical eye to research practices. In this paper we join others in presenting a call for changes at each stage of the research process. Grounded in specific examples, nine core challenges are identified. Related to research focus and study design there are problems linked to: 1) centering a cisnormative world view, 2) conducting research not identified as a priority by trans communities, and 3) lack of accountability in research design decisions. Regarding data collection and analysis, concerns include: 4) reinforcing gender binaries, 5) collapsing gender and sexual diversity, and 6) misrepresenting trans experiences through data manipulation. In terms of reporting and publishing practices, challenges are identified related to: 7) misgendering, 8) informational erasure in reporting research results, and 9) under-attention to complex informed consent dynamics. Linking the trans research ethics literature with concrete documentation of the ways researchers discuss and represent trans people and their personal information in peer-reviewed publications, this manuscript contributes to new dialogues about improving research processes with communities invested in accountability.
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#trans studies
#applied scholarship
#postdisciplinarity
#academic fields
On Fields, Post-Disciplines, and the Need for an Applied Transgender Studies
Thomas J Billard, Avery R. Everhart, Erique Zhang | June 13, 2022
The institutionalization of transgender studies as a field comes just as the academy has decided that “fields” are a less relevant and more cumbersome aspect of professional academic organization that prevents the kind of theoretical and empirical work needed to make scholarship relevant to contemporary society. A number of areas of intellectual inquiry have, accordingly, shifted to a “post-discipline” model of academic organization. But what would it mean to think of transgender studies as a post-discipline? First, it would mean a turn away from a focus on field-building within the humanities. Second, it would mean insisting upon transdisciplinary collaboration despite the academy’s failure to encourage such collaboration. But perhaps most importantly, it would mean a turn *toward* addressing the material conditions of transgender existence and the issues transgender people face in the world. In short, it would mean reorienting ourselves toward an *applied transgender studies*.
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#transgender
#gender minority stress
#sociopolitical context
#resilience
#stigma
L. Zachary DuBois, Jae A. Puckett, Sarah F. Price, Kelsi Kuehn, Brenna Lash, Tian Walker, Natalie R. Holt, Ralston Allura L., T. Zachary Huit, Makinna Miles, Sage Volk, A. Capannola, Clover Tipton, Debra A. Hope, Richard Mocarski, Robert-Paul Juster | June 30, 2023
Marginalization experienced by transgender and gender diverse (trans) people exerts negative effects on health. However, few studies examine how trans people respond to events reflecting structural stigma or anti-trans sentiment and the sociopolitical contexts in which they occur. This study examined how trans people (*N* = 158) residing in Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon, and Tennessee responded to specific sociopolitical events and their impacts on health and well-being. Baseline data were collected Fall 2019--Spring 2020, followed by monthly surveys for a year. Current analyses include baseline data and one monthly survey. At baseline, participants reflected on their responses to the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump and a 2018 memo leak with negative implications for trans people's lives. Participants reported decreased positive experiences (e.g., hopefulness) and increased negative experiences (e.g., fear) after these events. Additionally, 80.2% of participants reported increased hate speech following the 2016 election. During one of the monthly surveys, we found variability in participants' responses to the 2020 presidential election. Perhaps due to backlash, 31.3% of participants reported increased hate speech, with participants of color reporting additional negative impacts. These findings contextualize experiences of trans people, highlighting how marginalization and exposure to minority stressors are shaped by structural-level stigma.
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#BIPOC trans youth
#Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
#risk
#resilience
#marginalization
An Interpretative Phenomenological Study
Laura MacMullin, Joshua Mvunga, Doug VanderLaan | December 15, 2024
"Despite facing multiple forms of discrimination, very little past research has focused on the experiences of risk and resilience for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) trans youth. To bridge this gap, the present study utilized ecological systems theory to examine the unique experiences of risk and sources of resilience for BIPOC trans youth through qualitative analysis of interviews. In total, 12 BIPOC trans 14- to 24-year-olds participated in an online, semi-structured interview. Key themes from the interviews were derived using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. We found four superordinate themes: accessing community connection and fostering belonging; navigating the healthcare system; personal journey with and relationship to gender identity; and others' reactions to gender identity. Participants highlighted various risk (e.g., difficulty findings others who shared their race and gender) and resilience (e.g., having adults who took action to support their gender identity) factors in the various layers of their surrounding environment as well as ways that they wished to be treated (e.g., through others becoming informed about the unique experiences of BIPOC trans individuals). The discussion explores key themes participants raised and highlights implications of the present research for groups such as parents, teachers, and healthcare providers."
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#trans men
#nonbinary people
#psychological health
#gender minority stressors
#gender-affirming behaviors
Gender Minority Stressors, Social Support, and Gender-Affirming Behaviors
Charlene Johnson, Veanne N. Anderson, Ryan Steiner | June 28, 2024
Trans and gender diverse people live in a cisnormative society where their minoritized status compromises their psychological health. We examined associations between social support, intimate relationship satisfaction, gender minority stressors, gender-affirming behaviors, and psychological wellbeing in a convenience sample of 81 predominantly white trans and nonbinary people assigned female at birth and living in the US. Gender non-affirmation, negative expectations for the future, nondisclosure, and transnegativity were associated positively with anxiety and depression, and negatively with life satisfaction. Overall social support correlated negatively with psychological distress. Gender-affirming behaviors (e.g., hormone use, gender-affirming surgeries) did not predict anxiety and depression. However, life satisfaction scores were higher in those who underwent gender-affirming surgeries and legal gender marker changes. Gender non-affirmation scores were lower in those who had made legal gender marker changes in the total sample and in trans men who took hormones. Compared to nonbinary participants, trans men were more likely to be using hormones and to report lower gender non-affirmation scores. These results support other research on the associations between gender minority stressors and psychological wellbeing. Social support may ameliorate these stressors. Furthermore, people with nonbinary gender identities may differ in important ways from those with binary trans identities.
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#
Jules L. Madzia, Tee Chuanromanee, Gaines Blasdel, DeGuia Aloe, Mary Byrnes, Nabeel A. Shakir, Megan Lane, Oliver L. Haimson | December 15, 2023
Online spaces are increasingly important for transgender people who are considering gender-affirming surgeries to find information, ask questions, and communicate with each other. While many surgical resources are community-generated, the onus of providing medical information about surgery should be on the surgical team. We sought to understand the potential for an online space for surgeon and community engagement. We assessed gender-affirming surgeon perspectives on online communication and communities by conducting a survey (*N* = 55) to understand current social media use and gauge surgeons' opinions related to participating in online spaces. We found that gender-affirming surgeons were not generally in support of a new online platform for patient-surgeon communication, with 67% responding that a new platform was not needed. Participants identified potential negative implications including risks to patients (e.g., misinformation, liability, and platform use in emergency situations) and risks to surgeons (e.g., the additional burden that the platform would place on their already-limited time, changes to surgeon culture, and safety concerns related to online harassment). Potential positive implications include opportunities to improve patient education and enhance patient care. Our results establish empirical understanding of social media use patterns among gender-affirming surgeons and may inform the design of resources to enable trans patients to receive the information and care that they require when considering and undergoing gender-affirming surgery.
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#gendered mourning
#loss
#transgender youth
#cisnormativity
#cisgender privilege
What Gendered Mourning Among Midwestern Parents Tells Us About Familial Cisnormativity and Creating Livable Trans Futures
Mel Constantine Miseo | December 16, 2022
This article examines how feelings of loss and grief commonly experienced by parents of transgender youth, which I call gendered mourning, give insight into the cisnormative inner workings of family gender systems. Examination into the experience of gendered mourning illuminates the ways in which cisnormativity frames ideas of familial futurity, setting parents up for feelings of loss. Ethnographic fieldwork at a support group for parents of transgender youth in a Midwestern state in the United States and in-depth interviews with attendees of the support group reveal that gendered mourning primarily involves feelings about a child's changing name and body, the trans child existing in a hostile world, and fears of losing a child through suicide. Additionally, this study finds that gendered mourning has generative capabilities for informing parental work of fostering trans livability. This research positions cisnormativity, acting as a collective harm to us all, as the producer of loss instead of the transgender child.
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#COVID-19
#Neoliberalism
#India
#Kothi
#Hijra
Transgender Activism in a Neoliberal-Developmentalist Assemblage
Aniruddha Dutta | June 13, 2022
Transgender and gender non-conforming people, particularly communities from predominantly working-class and Dalit (oppressed-caste) backgrounds such as kothis and hijras, were among those hit hardest during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The COVID-19 crisis was exacerbated by the policies of the Indian state, which demonstrate an unstable assemblage or conjuncture of neoliberal and developmentalist tendencies, in keeping with long-term systemic patterns in the region. The article situates Indian trans activism during the COVID-19 pandemic within the context of the neoliberal--developmentalist assemblage that characterizes governance in contemporary India and examines the possibilities and limitations of such activism. During the COVID-19 crisis, trans communities and activists contest and negotiate with the state in variable ways, sometimes bolstering and suturing neoliberal and developmentalist modes of governance and sometimes challenging or undermining them, and even playing them against each other. This article traces these varied negotiations and analyzes how they not only enable the survival of trans people through the pandemic, but also demonstrate ways activists may push back against the state's simultaneous regulation and neglect of their communities.
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#gender dysphoria
#social dysphoria
#body dysphoria
#COVID-19
#stress
Transgender and Nonbinary Individuals' Experiences of Gender Dysphoria in Bodily, Social, and Systemic Contexts During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Chloe Goldbach, Douglas Knutson, Satveer Kler, Dannie Klooster, Savannah LeForce, David Cole Milton | June 30, 2023
Conceptualizations of gender dysphoria have primarily centered only on bodily contexts, but researchers have recently identified the importance of also considering the roles of social and systemic contexts when conceptualizing experiences of gender dysphoria. The present study aimed to expand the understanding of transgender and nonbinary (TNB) individuals' experiences of gender dysphoria within bodily, social, and systemic contexts, including experiences at two points during and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from 364 TNB participants at two time points: before (May 2019 to January 2020) and during (May to December 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. Consensual Qualitative Research-Modified (CQR-M) was used to analyze participant responses. Using CQR-M, 12 domains were identified that captured participant descriptions of factors that contribute to their experiences of gender dysphoria: (a) binary gender norms, (b) language, (c) systems and structural issues, (d) gender congruence, (e) safety, (f) community exclusion, (g) transition care, (h) close relationships, (i) multiple marginalization, (j) pandemic detriments, (k) pandemic benefits, and (l) buffers against experiencing gender dysphoria. The results of the present study suggest that social and systemic factors, in addition to bodily factors, play a significant role in the experiences of gender dysphoria reported by TNB individuals. These findings demonstrate a complex, far reaching, and relatively stable impact of social and systemic factors on the development and maintenance of gender dysphoria that needs to be integrated into the process of conceptualization, assessment, and treatment.
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#gender affirming care
#HIV
#implementatione research
#qualitative research
#transgender heaelth
Formative Interviews with Implementation Practitioners
alithia zamantakis, Juan Pablo Juan Pablo Zapata, Artur A.F.L.N. Queiroz, Donoso Valeria A. | December 15, 2024
Transgender people experience vast disparities in HIV prevalence, incidence, linkage to care, treatment, and prevention. Recent scholarship has highlighted that gender affirming care (GAC) may facilitate HIV treatment and HIV prevention. However, few researchers have examined how best to integrate these forms of care outside LGBT-focused clinics. Twelve interviews were conducted with key informants in community-based organizations, HIV clinics, and health departments in urban and rural Illinois and Missouri. Interviews were analyzed using a rapid qualitative analytic process, involving the production of analytic memos, coding of memos in NVivo using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, and production of matrices for within-site and cross-site comparison. Key informants were highly excited at the possibility of integrating gender affirming care and HIV services. They highlighted numerous barriers that need to be targeted, including local attitudes and conditions, equity-centeredness, provider capability, and policies and laws. They also highlighted barriers to HIV care alone for transgender patients, including transportation, cost, stigma, provider capability, and homelessness. While numerous barriers exist, provider and funder acceptability are high. Attending to the needs of trans patients may support efforts to end the HIV epidemic by increasing organizational adoption of evidence-based and equity-centered interventions.
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#transgender
#nonbinary
#pregnancy
#domestic violence
#identity-related abuse
Conditional Affirmation, Cisgenderist Coercion, and the Transformative Potential of Perinatal Care
Ruth Pearce, Carla Pfeffer, Carla Pfeffer, Francis Ray White, Sally Hines | June 28, 2024
Transgender people face disproportionately high rates of violence, including domestic violence. Like cisgender survivors, trans survivors typically report a pattern of coercion and control on the part of abusers. Drawing on the findings of an international qualitative study with trans parents who have conceived and carried their own children (i.e. trans birth parents), this article describes power and control tactics experienced by survivors, and how these may depart from the "public story" of domestic violence. The article reports on two thematic contexts of coercion and control that are particularly relevant for this population. First, conditional affirmation is a form of identity-related abuse that can be utilised by abusers to gain and maintain access to vulnerable individuals who may otherwise feel they have no other access to gender affirmation in their lives. Secondly, abusers may use pregnancy as a site of cisgenderist coercion, in which trans birth parents are deprived of autonomy through being socially and interpersonally feminized and ascribed into womanhood in the context of pregnancy. We then discuss how perinatal care can function as a site of heightened risk or mitigation for the impact of these forms of violence. The article concludes with recommendations for practitioners in healthcare, education, and domestic violence services, emphasising the importance of gender affirmation, trauma-informed services, and training around what domestic violence looks like for trans people.
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#primary care
#qualitative research
#gender affirming healthcare
#transgender
#healthcare pathways
Daisy Holland, Luka C. J. White, Marija Pantelic, Carrie Llewellyn | December 15, 2023
Transgender (trans) people experience health inequalities, which includes inequities in accessing and navigating healthcare systems. General practitioners (GP) in England have a limited role in delivering trans-specific healthcare. Few studies have explored what is positively working in GP-led primary care settings and how this can be more widely implemented. This study aims to explore the views and expectations of trans people regarding primary care services. Data were generated using qualitative semi-structured one-on-one interviews conducted with trans experts by experience who were recruited through purposive sampling. Results were analysed and coded using a thematic analysis framework to identify key themes. Positive and negative experiences of accessing and navigating general practice settings were identified by 16 trans people as experts by experience. An overarching theme was for gender-affirming services to be provided through general practice in order to reduce waiting times for specialist care and to move towards an informed consent model of care. Through demonstrating examples of good practice, general practitioners are advised to take a proactive role in providing positive gender-affirming healthcare for trans people. An informed consent model of care should be implemented to improve healthcare access.
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#gender minority stress
#nonbinary
#transgender
#detransition
#retransition
Examining the Socio-Politically Driven Gender Minority Stressors Experienced by People Who Detransitioned
Kinnon R. MacKinnon, W. Ariel Gould, Florence Ashley, Gabriel Enxuga, Hannah Kia, Lori E. Ross | December 16, 2022
Existing research on gender minority stress theory largely presumes that transgender identity is a categorically immutable characteristic often tied to a unidirectional gender transition, neglecting to consider individuals whose gender identity/expression and embodiment desires change over time. Applying constructivist grounded theory, this article empirically develops the concept of *detransphobia* from the distal and proximal gender minority stressors, stigma, and discrimination experienced by individuals who shifted or reversed their gender transition. Between October 2021 and January 2022, 28 participants completed semi-structured, one-on-one virtual interviews regarding their experiences of detransition/retransition and their social support needs. Interviews ranged between 50--90 minutes and they were transcribed and analyzed following an iterative, multi-pronged coding process to thematically conceptualize detransphobia. Fifty-two percent of the sample reported three or more past gender identities, 61% currently identified as nonbinary, and 100% identified along the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Participants' experiences of multiple gender transitions, and their embodiment following detransition, rendered them vulnerable to unique gender minority stressors for inhabiting an unintelligible category---detrans. Detransphobia was found to be rooted in cisnormativity and transnormativity, together with socio-politically-located anti-transgender stereotypes related to the process and the outcomes of detransitioning. Detransphobia compounds gender minority stressors and social exclusion in those who shift or reject their past transgender identity through the process of detransition.
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#assessment
#transgender
#children
#qualitative research
#clinical care
Trans Children's Experiences with UK Gender Clinics
Cal Horton | June 13, 2022
Gender clinics engaging with pre-pubertal trans children are divided between those that endorse a gender affirmative approach and those that do not. Little evidence is available on how trans children experience non-affirmative gender clinics in early childhood. This study aimed to understand pre-pubertal trans children’s recent experiences in non-affirmative gender clinics in the UK. Data focused on a cohort of trans children who socially transitioned under age eleven. Data were drawn from semi-structured qualitative interviews with ten trans children and 30 UK-based parents of trans children, focusing on children’s pre-pubertal engagement with UK gender clinics. Themes are presented on 1) inappropriate assessment of gender; 2) trans children under pressure; and 3) distress and trauma in UK gender clinics. The article presents evidence of continued pathologisation and problematisation of childhood gender diversity in UK children’s gender clinics. It demonstrates the harms pf the status quo and the need for systemic reform, providing modern affirmative care for younger trans children.
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#transgender
#gender-affirming healthcare
#mental health
#healthcare pathways
#health inequity
The Mental Health Impact of Current Gender-Affirming Healthcare Pathways on Transgender Adults in England
Luka C. J. White, Daisy Holland, Marija Pantelic, Carrie Llewellyn | June 30, 2023
This study aimed to explore the mental health impact of current gender-affirming healthcare (GAHC) pathways on transgender people in England. Trans participants (experts by experience) were recruited through purposive sampling and took part in qualitative semi-structured interviews between October 2021 and January 2022. The data generated were analysed and coded using a thematic framework analysis. Sixteen trans individuals participated. The majority were white, transfeminine, and reported a disability and/or neurodivergence. Four key themes reflecting the mental health impact of GAHC pathways were identified: (1) anticipated or experienced discrimination, (2) long waiting times for treatment, (3) socio-geographic disparities, and (4) the role of psychotherapy and peer support. The mixed and inequitable provision of GAHC contributes to trans minority stress and has a substantial negative impact on the mental health of trans individuals, with participants describing healthcare avoidance, anxiety, depression, hopelessness, suicidality, anger, and chronic stress-related physical disability. Early access through primary care services to hormone replacement therapy (HRT), voice coaching, laser hair removal, and fertility preservation is likely to improve the mental health of trans individuals, alongside trans-affirmative or trans-led psychotherapy and peer support.
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#trans men
#nonbinary people
#psychological health
#gender minority stressors
#gender-affirming behaviors
Decision-making and Storytelling in Online Transgender Health Support Groups
Tee Chuanromanee, Oliver Haimson, Ronald Metoyer | December 15, 2024
For many transmasculine and nonbinary people, the decision about whether to have a gender-affirming surgery known as “top surgery” is an important part of gender transition. To examine how online support communities may influence top surgery decision-making, we conducted four online asynchronous focus groups (N = 21) using Facebook and Discord. As we show, different factors (including societal expectations and participants' race, disability status, and gender) can influence both decision-making and the ways that people seek support; the research spaces themselves—the focus groups on Discord and Facebook—became supportive environments that helped with participants' decision-making, and many participants eventually sought top surgery using non-traditional approaches that they had learned more about in these (and other) online communities. We discuss how top surgery-related online support communities can facilitate trans care. We also discuss the many types of storytelling that participants engaged in in these spaces—one of the key elements, we posit, of participants’ decision-making. Finally, we provide recommendations for future researchers, discussing how focus group composition impacts intracommunity dynamics and how Discord can be used to facilitate online focus groups.
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#trans
#transgender
#suicide prevention
#qualitative
#healthcare
Anne V. Kirby, Emily Krebs, Laurel Hiatt, Anna Docherty, Nicole Mihalopoulos, Brooks R. Keeshin, Elese Peifer, Marlee Craker, Michael Staley, Amanda V. Bakian, Hilary Coon | June 28, 2024
Trans people are at significantly elevated risk of suicide death, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation than their cisgender peers. Suicide prevention efforts are needed that address the most important issues to the trans community. In this qualitative study conducted in the United States in 2021, we aimed to broadly explore trans community member perspectives on suicidality and suicide prevention needs. We conducted four virtual focus groups---including one exclusively for trans people of color. We also solicited additional online responses to the same focus group questions. A total of 56 trans individuals with a history of suicidality participated. We utilized reflexive thematic analysis to develop themes to inform suicide prevention efforts for the trans community. The themes were multicontextual, representing needs across healthcare, legal and political arenas, workplaces, community groups, and interpersonal relationships. The central organizing theme identified as crucial for suicide prevention was "Having (Real) Rights and Respect." Supporting themes were "Being in Control of Our Own Bodies," "Being Safe as Ourselves," and "Feeling Support and Acceptance," which also included a subtheme of "Embracing Diversity within the Trans Community." We provide suggestions and directions for suicide prevention, which build on these themes.
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#cisnormativity
#transgender
#critical theory
#transformative
#higher education
Lynne Regan | December 15, 2023
Negotiating the university environment can be difficult for many students, but for transgender students there can be additional hurdles. With university often being the first experience of real independence for young people, it may also be a place where they feel they can be themselves for the first time, as they navigate an environment away from family and friendship ties from the past. Employing a transformative paradigm, I used an online survey to investigate trans student experiences across different higher education institutions (HEIs), and remote one-to-one interviews to explore in-depth perspectives and voices. I examined the challenges these students faced around themes of harassment, bullying and transphobia, representation in the curriculum, and institutional facilities and administration. Participants reported feelings of segregation and otherness resulting from difficulties changing names/genders on HEI systems and insufficient gender-neutral facilities on campus. A lack of trans representation in the curriculum was clear and students reported obstacles accessing mental health support services. I identified institutional cisnormativity as an explanation for many of the negative experiences and apparent exclusion of this student group.
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#Argentina
#Germany
#travesti
#transgender politics
#self-determination
A Conversation Between Nyke Slawik and Alba Rueda
Patricio Simonetto, Janek Scholz | December 16, 2022
The Argentinian Gender Identity Law was approved in 2012. On the occasion of its tenth anniversary and in the wake of a German self-determination law, two pioneer trans activists engaged in policymaking---Alba Rueda of Argentina and Nyke Slawik of Germany---discuss the challenges of developing trans-supportive policies in Latin America and Europe. Besides the differences between the two countries and the complexities of language and political--cultural translation, the conversation showcases some of the various ways in which scholarship, policymaking, and activism can create critical spaces of conversation to foster new synergies against exclusionary and reactionary trends, and to build a more democratic and equal future for everyone. The conversation is preceded by a short scholarly introduction that presents the theoretical context for the conversation and introduces the discussants. The article closes with a conclusion that unpacks the general implications of the conversation for scholars and advocates working in Germany, Argentina, and beyond.
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#body dissatisfaction
#eating behavior
#gender affirmation
#transgender
#wellbeing
The Importance of Stage of Gender Affirmation
Gayle Brewer, Laura Hanson, Noreen Caswell | June 13, 2022
Previous research suggests that transgender men and women are more likely to experience body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Few studies have, however, investigated the manner in which body dissatisfaction and eating behavior are affected by the gender affirmation process. To address this issue, semi-structured interviews were conducted with transgender men and women (*N* = 22) recruited from British support groups. Participants were aged 19--71 years. Participant sexuality included heterosexual, homosexual, pansexual, and asexual orientations and all participants identified themselves as white. For both transgender men and women, analyses revealed a shift from a focus on psychological wellbeing in the early stages of gender affirmation to physical wellbeing in the later stages. While body dissatisfaction appeared to dissipate as gender affirmation progressed, a common theme across the gender affirmation process was that both transgender men and women engaged in risky behaviors related to transforming body shape and size. Findings highlight the need to consider the influence of gender affirmation when researching the interconnections between attitudes, behavior, and emotions relating to gender identity.
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#transgender
#STEM
#engineering
#computer science
#hate speech
Interpreting Malicious Responses to an Online Questionnaire about Transgender Undergraduate Engineering and Computer Science Student Experiences
Andrea Haverkamp, Finn Johnson, Michelle K. Bothwell, Qwo-Li Driskill, Devlin Montfort | June 30, 2023
Online research that solicits participation from marginalized communities or is conducted by scholars of marginalized identities may be targeted by individuals who intend to tamper with the study outcomes and/or harass the researchers. Our goal is to identify and interpret malicious responses recorded in a first-of-its-kind national questionnaire for transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) students in undergraduate engineering and computer science programs. Data categorized as malicious (50 of the 349 total responses) contained slurs, hate speech, or direct targeting of the research team. The data was coded inductively and discursively interpreted through social justice frameworks. The responses contained homophobic, transphobic, ableist, anti-Black, antisemitic, and anti-Indigenous content. Online memes associated with white nationalist and fascist movements were present throughout the data, alongside memes and content referencing gaming and "nerd" culture. Malicious responses can provide critical insight into the social conditions in STEM education. In application, we call for researchers to critically analyze, rather than discard, malicious data to shed light on these phenomena and generate empowering "counterspeech" to confront hate and reclaim agency. These findings show that social justice STEM education must include perspectives on online hate radicalization and center anti-colonial, intersectional solidarity organizing as its opposition.
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#medical students
#transgender
#attitudes
#education
#Vietnam
Eric Ardman, Minh Anh Vu, Thuy Dao Thi Dieu, | June 28, 2024
The transgender community faces disproportionate healthcare disparities; stigma and poorly trained providers are likely factors. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the attitudes and opinions of medical students regarding transgender people and to examine which demographic variables correlate with positive attitudes towards transgender people. This cross-sectional study surveyed 561 medical students, across all years of study, at Hanoi Medical University (HMU) in Hanoi, Vietnam. Students were surveyed in December 2018. The survey included demographic data collection and Attitudes Towards Transsexualism Survey. The survey demonstrated adequate internal consistency with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.86. Overall, 78.6% of participants held positive or very positive attitudes towards transgender people. Most students reported there should be more LGBT-related content added to the curriculum. On multivariate regression, identifying as female and wanting more LGBT topics in the school curriculum were significantly associated with positive attitudes towards transgender people. Medical students at HMU held positive views of transgender people. They would benefit from, and widely accept, more LGBT content, particularly regarding transgender health, in HMU's curriculum.
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#transgender
#cisgenderism
#gender identity
#Zucker
#research literature
Coltan Schoenike | December 15, 2023
Deeply-seeded issues of cisgenderism and discriminatory bias are continuing problems that slow equal rights advances and facilitate further harm for transgender and gender diverse communities - and research literature is no exception. A salient example of this is the historical and ongoing works of Dr. Kenneth Zucker and his colleagues. Previous research by Ansara and Hegarty (2012) has already illustrated this in detail, noting these researchers were often the most cisgenderist while having the highest degrees of influence. This review of literature examines a collection of Zucker’s first, second, and third author works from 2010-2022 using Anasara and Hegarty’s (2012) framework of binarism, misgendering, and pathologizing to assess cisgenderism within the writing. A lot occurred over those twelve years, including Zucker’s work as chair of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders work group for the gender dysphoria diagnosis, the controversial closure of his youth gender clinic in Toronto, and massive increases in visibility and discussion of transgender healthcare. In many ways, it appears that Zucker’s pattern of cisgenderism has continued. This review of literature explores this pattern in detail and offers insights as to why many of these ideologies are harmful to transgender and gender diverse communities.
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#transgender
#reproductive health
#pregnancy
#fertility
#transmasculine
Fertility Intentions and Desires Among Transmasculine Young Adults
Alischer Cottrill, Elizabeth Janiak, Allegra Gordon, Jennifer Potter, Madina Agénor | June 13, 2022
Though many transmasculine individuals pursue pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood in their lifetimes, research on the reproductive health needs of this population remains limited. This study aimed to explore the fertility intentions and desires of transmasculine young adults, as well as the multilevel factors that influence their pregnancy-related decisions. We conducted in-depth interviews with transmasculine young adults aged 18--29 (*N* = 21) in Boston, MA, USA between February and July of 2018. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach involving inductive and deductive coding via a codebook applied by two independent coders. While many participants reported no lifetime desire for pregnancy, a sizable minority expressed some desire to become pregnant in the future. Fertility intentions were shaped by a range of anticipated barriers, including gender dysphoria, difficulty navigating gendered stereotypes about pregnancy, inadequate information about fertility and pregnancy for transmasculine individuals, and a lack of health providers with the training and experience to offer high-quality pregnancy-related care to transmasculine patients. Multilevel interventions that address cisnormative stigma and discrimination in reproductive health care settings, improve patient-provider communication, and increase provider fluency with transmasculine health needs are necessary to facilitate access to the full spectrum of fertility-related services among transmasculine young adults.
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#electoral participation
#political exclusion
#trans community
#Kerala
Vinshy P. K. | June 30, 2023
This brief report examines the political exclusion of the transgender community in Kerala and factors impeding trans people's inclusion in electoral politics. The report's main argument is that the political exclusion of the trans community in Kerala is an extension of their socio-economic exclusion. Cultural and social exclusion, institutional or structural barriers, lack of identification documents, lack of awareness about the right to vote, lack of money and resources, violence, and discrimination are some of the factors that hamper the political participation of trans people. This report also showcases some possible recommendations for change that would increase the political inclusion of transgender people in Kerala.
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#teacher education
#transgender
#barriers
#action research
#evaluative inquiry
Lee Airton, Michelle Searle, Sofia I. Melendez, Katrina Carbone, Beck Watt, Kel Martin, Natalie Lefebvre | June 28, 2024
Despite a relatively supportive social and legal context, and growing societal awareness of gender diversity, transgender and/or gender nonconforming (TGNC) people remain woefully under-represented in the Canadian teaching profession. Many Canadian teacher education programs are taking steps to improve supports for TGNC teacher candidates given the recent addition of gender identity and gender expression protected grounds in almost every piece of Canadian human rights legislation. However, a "reactive" approach dominates, meaning that barriers faced by TGNC teacher candidates tend to be addressed *after* harm has occurred. Our action research project aims to collaboratively shift a teacher education program at a mid-sized Ontario university toward a "proactive" stance where known gender-based barriers are mitigated *before* TGNC teacher candidates encountering them. This article shares findings from the project's first phase, focusing on barriers identified and mitigated four program areas: recruitment, application and orientation; practicum; career planning; and certification and graduation.
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#transgender youth
#adoption
#family-building
#fertility
#reproductive justice
Florence Ashley | December 15, 2023
Adoption is increasingly being discussed as an alternative to procreation for trans youth given the impact of gender-affirming medical care on fertility. In this article, I caution against idyllic views of adoption and offer a critical perspective on the social, political, and ethical dimensions of adoption. After reviewing adoption's relationship to sexism, racism, imperialism, and cisheteronormativity, I sketch an alternative view of adoption as a complex and multi-valenced form of care in an unjust world.
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#gender euphoria
#gender dysphoria
#gender affirmation
#gender minority stress model
#transnormativity
Trans Experiences of Positive Gender-Related Emotions
Kai Jacobsen, Aaron Devor | June 13, 2022
While trans identities are typically understood through the distress-based concept of *gender dysphoria*, some trans people use the term *gender euphoria* to describe their experiences. Broadly defined as positive gender-related emotions, the concept has become more common in trans communities in recent years but has received little academic attention. To fill this gap, we conducted qualitative interviews with five trans individuals. We found that gender euphoria refers to positive emotions resulting from affirmation of one's gender identity or expression and can include a wide variety of emotions and experiences. Gender euphoria can range from feelings of intense joy accompanying the attainment of milestones in gender transition through to a more consistent sense of calmness and relief occurring later in transition. We contextualize these findings within the gender minority stress model to explore the link between gender euphoria, dysphoria, and health and well-being generally. Our findings emphasize the value of prioritizing euphoria, happiness, and safety in gender-affirming care.
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#rural
#transgender
#gender diverse
#gender nonconforming
#gynecologic care
Julia S. Mead, Charlotte V. Hastings, Ilana Cass, Ella A. Damiano | June 30, 2023
Transgender and gender diverse patients face significant healthcare disparities that are often exacerbated for those living in rural areas. Our aim is to describe the characteristics of and medical services utilized by a transgender and gender diverse population seeking gynecologic care in a rural area. We conducted a retrospective chart review of transgender and gender diverse individuals who sought care and/or underwent gender-affirming gynecologic surgery at our institution. We compared patients presenting to the gynecology clinic from 2017--2018 to patients presenting to the dedicated Gynecology Gender Clinic from 2019--2020. We also describe the features that distinguish the clinic as specialized care. The clinic was able to utilize a pre-visit questionnaire to obtain patient name, pronouns, and gender identity in advance of the visit. Total unique patient volume increased by 83% (average 12 per year to average 22 per year). Hysterectomies performed increased by 320% (from 5 to 21 post-implementation) and encounter volume increased by 84%. The development of a Gynecology Gender Clinic program has led to an increase in clinical and surgical volume, improving access to care. Our data demonstrates feasibility of implementing the clinic and demand for specialized gender care in a rural community.
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#heterosexuality
#white supremacy
#transphobia
#sexual identity
#personal preferences
Heterosexuality, White Supremacy, and Transphobia without Transphobes
Brandon Andrew Robinson | June 28, 2024
This article turns to super straights---a sexual identity adopted by straight people who claim that they are not attracted to transgender people---in order to more broadly examine discourses around how people engage in transphobia without wanting to be seen as transphobic. In analyzing over 200 online discussion threads on Reddit, this article documents how in this moment of trans visibility, some people are using bioessentialist frames of biological sex, "born this way" ideologies of sexual identity, and personal preference discourses to construct heterosexuality as superior and to position their desires and ideologies as not transphobic. Notably, as constructions of biological sex, inherent sexual identities, and personal preferences have meanings rooted in racism and eugenics, this article situates these super straight discourses and strategies within this white supremacist history. Ultimately, this article argues that understanding more covert, and at times progressive and liberal, ways that transphobia operates is crucial in addressing trans antagonism and working toward gender liberation.
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#transgender
#autism
#autistic-trans
#self-advocacy
#autobiography
A Mixed Methods Content Analysis of Transgender and Autistic Autobiography
Noah Adams | June 13, 2022
This article presents a mixed methods content analysis of autobiographies by transgender autistics (autistic-trans). It incorporates books, anthologies, poems, and prose, including self-published, grey, and professionally published texts up to June 2020. Seventy-one English-language texts in 15 separate books were identified. The first was published in 2003 and the majority have been published since 2013. The most common themes explored individuals' experience of autism diagnosis, community, coming out (as trans), and gender, with many speaking of being nonbinary, genderless, or using autism-specific genders (e.g., autigender). Notably, these themes, which exemplify those that are important to autistic-trans writers, contrast markedly with the topics of most academic work on autistic-trans lives. These experiences were explored in the context of the double empathy problem, the looping effect, gender performance, and trans healthcare access. These findings can be used to inform future research on the transgender-autistic community.
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#archives
#National Center for Transgender Equality
#Trans Equality Archive
#transgender history
#transgender rights
A Case Study of the Trans Equality Archive
Thomas J Billard | June 30, 2023
As transgender people have become more salient in American society, there has been a commensurate increase in interest in transgender history. However, archival collections currently have weak holdings in transgender history and materials pertaining to the history of the transgender movement remain under-collected. This brief report examines the Trans Equality Archive, a new archive of primary and secondary materials pertaining to transgender political history at the National Center for Transgender Equality in Washington, DC. Challenges pertaining to scope, born-digital records, and organizational priorities are considered as they relate to the preservation of neglected transgender histories.
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#applied trans studies
#embodied knowledge
#peer support
#transgender standpoint
#structural competency
The Promise of Applied Trans Studies for Building Structural Competency
Austin H Johnson | June 13, 2022
In 2021, the United States experienced the most active year on record for anti-trans legislation. In 2022, we are witnessing the renewal of this legislative harassment, with increased success on the part of anti-trans lawmakers. When these bills are passed into law and, importantly, even when they are resoundingly defeated or fail to reach an actual vote, the harmful rhetoric and ideology that is attached to them reverberates throughout trans communities resulting in social and psychological harm for transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse people. The burden of addressing and offsetting this harm is often placed on the shoulders of other trans people who serve as grassroots leaders in their communities. This article argues that while this support is lifesaving for individual trans people, transformative change requires an increase in *structural competency* in our mainstream social institutions, and makes the case for applied trans studies as a pathway to that end.
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#book review
#transgender
#Shon Faye
#affect theory
#negative affect
#trans ontology