Workshops of activities, dynamics and projects with trans people: social occupational therapy actions

During the last 20 years, trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) individuals have become more visible in social activism, politics, and popular media. Concomitant with this visibility has been greater recognition and acceptance of the fluidity and non-binary quality of some people’s gender identity. Despite these positive changes, TGNC individuals still face widespread prejudice and discrimination, such as the creation of so-called “bathroom bills,” proposed restrictions on access to health care, and instigated attempts by the federal government to legislate the definition of “gender.” Research examining the roots of trans prejudice, or prejudice toward trans people, indicates that negative attitudes may be associated with traditional gender role beliefs, anti-feminist attitudes, moral disgust toward trans people, and a belief that trans people are psychologically disturbed. Perceived threats to social values and sexual safety posed by trans people may also underlie trans prejudice among cisgender heterosexual individuals in particular. Also, there is evidence that these perceived threats vary depending on the gender identity of the trans person as well as the cisgender individual. An examination of the origins of and the factors that predict trans prejudice will contribute to a better understanding of the high levels of sexual assault, harassment, and intimate partner violence (IPV) reported by trans people in recent surveys. Furthermore, such an understanding may contribute to systemic changes in the treatment of trans people by their family, friends, intimate partners, as well as health care professionals.

Migration—whether international or internal, forced or voluntary—intertwines with digital media, especially for sexual minorities and trans people who seek out platforms catering to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Online networks foster transnational flows of ideas and information, which can enable international travel. The ways that queer people interact on digital media in the 21st century have emerged not only from decades of online subcultures—such as 1990s chatrooms and profile sites—but also from predigital media cultures, such as printed personal ads in gay and lesbian journals. The internet accelerated the growth of media platforms and queer international networks, both of which continued to develop with the advent of mobile phone apps and the proliferation of social media. Online media—from blogs to hashtags to “hook-up” apps—can relate to all aspects of the migration process. Before, during, and after a move, queer migrants access online media for information about LGBTQ laws and norms or for help with the logistics of migration. When in a new country, queer migrants use online media to try to connect with locals. During these interactions, migrants might encounter forms of xenophobia, racism, and exclusion. In spite or because of these experiences, queer migrants utilize digital media to build new networks, such as queer diasporic communities aimed at social or political activities.

Trans people experience social marginalisation, stigmatisation and violent oppression in US society and worldwide. Given the importance of social capital for wellbeing, this study sought to illuminate the ways in which trans people build social capital throughout their lives and to use this knowledge to promote new and helpful ways of thinking about social capital concerning the human life course in the 21st century. We conducted a secondary interpretive content analysis of 86 in-depth interviews with trans older adults generated as part of the arts project To Survive on This Shore. Trans older adults confront social marginalisation and stigmatisation by generating what we call authenticated social capital, a form of social capital built by re-negotiating social constraints and developing alternative social networks and supports that affirm identity and foster authenticity and wellbeing. These networks and supports are often embedded in social worlds created by trans people that facilitate gender affirmation and social activism through community organising. The concept of authenticated social capital integrates and expands upon paradigmatic understandings of social capital. In addition to enhancing theorising and interventions aimed at improving the lives of trans people, the approach may be well suited to conceptualising the life experiences and liberation of other oppressed groups.

Within the interdisciplinary field of Transgender Studies, a perennial problem is the differing understandings which scholars (and more broadly, social actors) have of the ontologies of sex, gender and transgender – correspondingly shaping their readings of texts. In this work, Pearce brings theoretically constructive discussion to bear on how trans people, their communities, and the healthcare services and practitioners which centre them inform and relate to each other discursively. The book results from a 7-year (2009-2016) ethnographic doctoral project in the UK, focused on online community spaces. The intersectional content creates motives for interest from many readers, including scholars of Transgender Studies, sociologists of health and illness, and gender studies with interest in service user/provider power dynamics. There is also great reflexive potential for medical practitioners – both the “gender experts” (p. 92) working within Gender Identity Clinics, and service providers working in general practice. The text opens with an autoethnographic passage to situate the origins of the research. Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 open with a first-person vignette, drawing upon Pearce's personal experiences of community, healthcare and scholarship. The autoethnographic accounts benefit the work by interlacing a deeply relatable sincerity which complements the genealogical approach taken to contextualising the field. As Pearce puts it, the genealogical approach “acknowledges and examines how subjectivities are constructed through social processes” (p. 20, italics original) – the well-developed contexts for these processes provide a robust foundation for the sociological consideration of subjectivities in relation to (shifting and evolving) trans discourses. I argue (in a manner analogous to feminist standpoint theory) that the strength of Pearce's analytic clarity and dedicated reflection on community inter- (and intra-) actions would not have been possible without her positionality. Further, Pearce's insider status has not only equipped her to access the community forums which partially comprised her data set, but also the growing “sophistication of informal theorisation” (p. 39, italics original) in some digital trans spaces. Drawing upon ideas of value produced outside the academy adds to the originality and sophistication of the material reviewed in the first section of the book (chapters 1-3). The book aims to answer how different understandings and experiences of trans are “produced, reified and legitimised through health discourses and practices” (p.8). Further, it considers how such health discourses are negotiated, disseminated and contested between trans community groups, activists and professionals – while recognising that these groups are heterogeneous and overlapping. Exceptional attention is given to unfolding the language used to communicate central technical concepts – notably discourse, cultural and professional cisgenderism (Kennedy, 2013), and key theoretical contributions through the conceptual vehicles of ‘trans as movement’ and ‘trans as condition’. The social processes which both inform and constitute a person being diagnosed with gender dysphoria (or other diagnostic terms, dependent on what guidelines were followed, and when) simultaneously “make trans lives possible and limit the liveable scope of those possibilities” (p.29, italics original). The second section of the book (chapters 4 and 5) addresses research findings, while the third section (chapters 6 and 7) looks to the future and possible changes to address problems in trans healthcare. These problems are depressingly predictable and familiar to many insider group members in particular – at least in descriptive terms. The value of this work lies in the theoretical nuance displayed in answering the research questions it sets out. In arguing that trans identities undergo co-construction between health professionals and trans service users, Pearce shows that “condition-oriented definitions of trans… can also limit the scope of trans possibilities, thereby rendering trans conditional” (p. 90, italics original). This occurs through the impact of interactions within clinical space, and the indirect impact that clinical discourses have on how trans people reflexively engage with their genders. The limitation of trans possibilities is discursively richer than how options are navigated within gender clinics. The flattening of trans to transition is also addressed, with important discussion on both the lack of trans health research beyond transition (i.e, accessing hormone replacement therapy or gender-related surgeries), and the impact on trans people when their health needs are reduced to transition. The conditionality of trans undergoes further theoretical development in chapter 5, through the consideration of temporality. The ways in which trans embodiment, expression, and beliefs can be opened up or closed down based on how (and if) healthcare interactions are navigated are framed as “strategic futurities” (p. 133).The range of theoretical conversations which are developed across different chapters is impressive. Ultimately, this book offers sophisticated yet clear explanations of the terrain of trans health in the UK, with superb analytic purchase – made all the more impressive by its accessibility and candour.

This Coda elaborates on the changing forms and meanings of violent intimacies in trans lives in the ongoing sociopolitical transformations in Turkey especially since the Gezi protests in 2013 and the coup-attempt in 2016. In the post-coup-attempt period, the sociopolitical environment in Turkey has become more oppressive and authoritarian for different social and political groups, including queer and trans people. The boundary between legal and illegal, freedom and prohibition, has been constantly shifting, and redefining queer and trans lives within a spatial economy of violence. Visibility for lgbti+ people has brought greater scrutiny, increased vulnerability, and surveillance by state institutions and social actors. The government has heightened the pressure on several lgbti+ organizations and activities, and banned Pride Week since 2015. In spite of this political climate, queer and trans people, alongside many others, continue to imagine the world otherwise and produce alternative life projects that emerge out of everyday conditions under growing authoritarianism.

The act of diagnosing gender dysphoria (GD), as in the act of diagnosing any other condition, is structured by socio-cultural, political and economic factors and is conducted by social actors. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with practitioners who work with trans people in Portugal, the study reveals the nuances and complexities surrounding the diagnostic attribution of GD and the ways in which the ideologies regarding gender shape this attribution. Practitioners’ accounts show a diversity not often acknowledged within sociological and transgender literature. We extend previous studies by demonstrating that practitioners who operate under a social model of gender are opening space for trans people to be treated as experts of their bodies and identities by accepting the existence of those who identify beyond gender binaries. While it might not be true for practitioners who can be positioned within a biological model, thus attributing an essentialist explanation of gender, we found evidence that practitioners who follow a social model are allowing room for the self-definition of gender identification. The study provides another lens for understanding the diagnostic attribution of GD by paying attention to the accounts of practitioners who work with trans people and reveals their openness towards a collaborative model of care.

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la construcción de la representación discursiva de la identidad de género trans en su relación con diversos actores sociales, a partir del análisis lingüístico de un corpus de historias de vida producidas por personas trans en la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires entre 2012 y 2016. El marco teórico es el Análisis Crítico del Discurso y la metodología es cualitativa e inductiva. Los resultados muestran cómo, mediante distintas estrategias lingüísticas que combinan recursos reforzadores y mitigadores, la familia es construida como un actor social clave en la exclusión de las personas trans.

The Media Action Research Group (MARG) is an antiauthoritarian, profeminist (antiracist, anticolonial, queer, trans and anti-capitalist) group of activist-researchers both inside and outside the university, studying autonomous social movement media activism in Canada and beyond. In this article we map a taxonomy of activist-research, illustrating how MARG brings together five specific methodologies—activist-led issue-based research, militant participatory ethnography, feminist community research, prefigurative antiauthoritarian feminist participatory action research (PAFPAR), and autonomous media research—to study how women, people of colour, queer and trans people, and Indigenous people in antiauthoritarian or anarchist-leaning social movements are using grassroots media to support and report on these movements. We find that although MARG set out to create an antiauthoritarian research-activist collective, we are restricted in some ways by the intensification of neoliberalism in the university institution. Nonetheless we are able to conduct transgressive research at the intersection between antiauthoritarian activism and the academy, producing three direct and immediate impacts: within social movements, within media activism, and within the university.

Objective: This article aimed to systematically review studies on occupational therapy to improve social participation in older adults with dementia to elucidate associated intervention types, effects, and assessment tools. Methods: Literature published from 2014 to 2024 was searched using RISS, PubMed, and Embase. The main search terms included “dementia”, “social activity”, “leisure activity”, “play activity”, “social interaction activity”, “community based activity”, “social participation” and “occupational therapy”. Nine studies were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: The selected studies showed high quality and a low risk of bias. The interventions were mainly occupational or activity-based, and cognitive occupational therapy was commonly employed. All studies reported that occupational therapy improves social participation, highlighting improvements in social activities and instrumental activities of daily living. Overall, 23 assessment tools were used, with the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure and Social Behavior Scale being the most frequently used tools. Conclusion: This study confirmed the effectiveness of occupational therapy in improving social participation in older adults with dementia, thereby providing valuable insights for clinical practice.

Although period poverty remains an ongoing concern, from an infrastructural perspective the provision of disposal facilities for menstrual products in countries like Australia has been largely addressed for those identifying as female. By contrast, there remains a significant provision gap for trans and nonbinary people who menstruate. This briefing paper considers the impact of a lack of sanitation infrastructure for all people who menstruate and male staff and students with faecal or urinary incontinence or chronic bowel and bladder issues within higher education institutions. One of the practical problems both groups face in relation to using campus-based male-designated toileting facilities is a lack of sanitary infrastructure to support the discrete and hygienic disposal of continence and menstrual products and packaging. In a university context, this lack of access to sanitation infrastructure can negatively impact the ability of staff and students to fully engage in on-campus learning, teaching and social activities. This briefing paper explores the regulatory and justice arguments in support of providing additional sanitary disposal infrastructure in male-designated toilet stalls on the basis that failing to do so is not only inequitable as it may limit these individuals from fully participating in life on campus but may also potentially constitute prohibited discrimination. The recommendations in this briefing paper are based on consultation with a range of stakeholders including The University of Adelaide Pride Club, YouX Sports Clubs, South Australian Rainbow Advocacy Alliance, and The University of Adelaide Disability, Illness and Divergence Association.

This article draws upon Jenny Edkins’ notion of ‘trauma time’ and asks how it helps us to better understand entanglement with past trauma in the context of gender-based violence (GBV). Edkins argues that enacting trauma time allows for multiple narratives and resistance, challenging the normalisation of traumas by sovereign power within linear time. I propose that trauma time offers valuable insights into better understanding GBV by highlighting the socio-political nature of trauma and critiquing the linear narrative of healing and restoring social order. Through an analysis of debates over the Gender Recognition Reform Bill in the United Kingdom, this article unpacks how social actors enact trauma time surrounding various forms of GBV, especially gendered violence against trans people. I argue that while sharing some similarities with gender critical feminists’ invocation of trauma time, the enactment of trauma time by trans rights activists troubles and challenges the reproduction of the linear narratives that hide multiple sites of violence. Going beyond examining individual temporal experiences of trauma, this article interrogates how different ways of enacting trauma time, originating from systemic sources of GBV, reveal non-linear and multiple temporalities. It also contributes to a deeper understanding of societal contestations over negotiating and challenging temporal order.

A divulgação da décima primeira edição da Classificação Estatística Internacional de Doenças e Problemas Relacionados com a Saúde (CID-11), em junho de 2018, mereceu atenção da imprensa internacional e nacional. Nessa versão, as identidades trans deixaram de ser classificadas como doença mental e foram categorizadas como incongruência de gênero no novo capítulo relacionado à saúde sexual. Considerando que práticas discursivas conformam e são conformadas por práticas sociais e que o processo de despatologização é marcado pelos conceitos de medicalização e biomedicalização, este trabalho identifica e analisa as fontes citadas na cobertura jornalística produzida no Brasil. O objetivo é entender, a partir dos atores sociais que foram selecionados, entrevistados e citados como fontes, os sentidos construídos pelos principais jornais do país sobre o tema. Observa-se que fontes institucionais do campo da saúde concorrem com outras do campo jurídico, com representantes de movimentos sociais e pessoas trans, que falam por si.

Although the body of literature exploring issues important for the lives of trans people has explored different forms of oppression, there is currently a paucity of research exploring responses to oppression specifically for young trans people. This research works with young trans people as ambassadors who contribute to the research design, analysis and procedure as participatory action researchers. Responses to oppression may be important to understand if we are to contribute to the changes needed at wider levels. For example community, institutional and social levels. The aims of this project are to join with young people who identify as trans, through meeting with them at a trans community interest group. By working in partnership with ambassadors we drew upon liberation psychology to guide the project and as a result we co- created and co-facilitated a group session. This session invited 5 other young trans people to talk about their lives. The research aim was to create a context to enable young people to tell stories of the everyday forms of resistance to oppression. This was done through the aid of a poster and by using the metaphor of a theatre stage to guide their story whilst also providing a safe position from which to tell it, and was named ‘The Theatre of Life’. These stories were analysed using a ‘narrative analysis’ where participants and ambassadors were involved in quality checks. The results found were primarily that the ‘Theatre of Life’ session can generate stories of resistance from young trans people. Their collective story of resistance was named ‘A Chorus of Self-Love As a Radical Act’. It explores the importance of queer community, overshadowed aspects of identity, finding safety and inspiring others to initiate social change beyond the trans community. The results also identify relevant audience members with whom these stories will resonate in order to create social action (community, institutional and political), as well as for therapeutic use. The results also produce opportunities for sharing stories using the creative arts (e.g. theatre, performance, art, spoken word, poetry) for increased impact and wide reach.

Transfeminism(s) as both forms of social activism and intellectual inquiry generate ever-evolving frameworks and theoretical provocations that continue to ask critical questions about who the subjects of feminism are and what struggles are supported by purported feminist logics. Transfeminism has evolved to include genders that exist outside of the cisheterosexist binary and white supremacist logics of personhood to whom certain people can recur to garner their “subjectivity.” Transfeminism aims to account for other excluded classes of people and genders including transmen, trans nonbinary and genderqueer folks, and intersex people bringing back some of what the legal framework of intersectionality aimed to account for with the discrimination against Black women in workplace situations. It has also expanded its definitional logic and framework capacities such that it does not engage in merely additive logics of feminism that might mirror diversity and inclusion initiatives in institutions. Instead, its capaciousness, particularly in its activist iterations globally, has been mobilized to account for extrajudicial organizing around queer and trans bodies and medical needs, abolition, transicide, nonnormative sex practices for queer and trans folks such as liberated sex practices like asexuality, kink, and BDSM, queer and trans sex work, disability needs, immigrant and migrant demands, bodily autonomy, and other forms of material and bodily precarity produced by multiple forms of marginalization for queer and trans people whose needs do not exist at the center of mainstream heteronormative, homonormative, or transnormative politics. When fully accounted for in its materialist foundations in activism globally and in its historical genealogy in the aforementioned legacies in organic intellectuals and career academics, transfeminism has the pedagogical potential to participate in liberatory practices for those who most need them in institutional spaces through which we move, in community organizations, and the most intimate spaces of kinship formations toward other modes of living.

Background Anti-trans violence has become the focus in European and international policy as stipulated in the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025. Despite the legal European anti-discrimination law, transgender people are still unable to be themselves without risks of social exclusion, feeling threatened, bullying at school, gender-related violence and hate crimes which negatively impacts their mental health (suicidality, hiding the trans identity). Methods Instead of making society more ‘trans sensitive', this study aims to strengthen the resilience of transgender youth (16-25 years old) bottom up, using a co-creative research approach. Inspired by the Lundy Model of child participation, transgender youth received a voice, platform and safe space to influence society. Thematically-analyzed data was gathered through focus groups (using creative techniques) in a co-creation session at the university hospital of Ghent. Results To increase their resilience, transgender youth want to (1) provide training for educational staff, develop didactic material and create safe coming-out environments, (2) participate in social activities focusing on gender expression, create social scripts, (3) improve self-confidence with techniques like Rock and water and self-defense programs, (4) participate in creative workshops to cope with stress and anxiety, (5) tell positive stories to tackle stereotypes. Based on this input from the co-creation session we will set up modules to strengthen their resilience. Conclusions The central question in research and practice should be how to take what they believe is necessary to become more resilient, take their challenges into account and how to use this to raise awareness on transphobia among trans people and international (trans)organizations. Key messages • To strengthen resilience in transgender youth by listening to their voices. • To increase awareness, knowledge and skills of professionals regarding transgender people.