Therapeutic Itinerary of Trans Men from Northeastern Brazil.

Abstract

To analyze the route that transgender men take to gain access to the treatments that are available for going through the transsexualizing process at a public care and attendance center in one of the capital cities of north-eastern Brazil. A qualitative case study which used the therapeutic itinerary as a theoretical-methodological path. The research was carried out between the months of September 2019 and March 2020 in a care and attendance center for trans people. The inclusion criteria were as follows: self-recognition as transgender men, over 18 years of age, and whose transsexualizing process was being carried out in the service stage of this study. Semistructured interviews were conducted. All interviewees participated voluntarily and signed a Free and Informed Consent Form before the study. This study included 18 transgender men whose average age was 26.3 years. Of these, five (27.7%) were students, with one (5.5%) of them, as well as the others (nonstudents), performing some type of paid work. Three thematic categories emerged: (i) The (self-re-) cognition of the trans world through the internet and social media; (ii) the expression of male gender identity and the (non) support network; and (iii) access to transsexualizing process in SUS (Brazilian Public Healthcare System). The identification of the path taken by trans men, from their self-recognition and to the therapeutic care accessed through SUS' transsexualizing process, made it possible to identify the impacts of their experiences upon the construction of their gender identities.