“Eu fui entender que eu era uma menina, biologicamente falando, na escolinha”: um estudo dos processos de constituição de estudantes trans* em escolas do município de Juiz de Fora/MG

Abstract

The school represents a place where certain practices are involved in the production of subjectivities. It is within the school, as a part of society, that the norms responsible for framing and, at times, excluding those who distance themselves from the standards are (re)produced. However, as a place of knowledge production, the school can be involved in processes of questioning the ways in which differences are constructed, positioned before society, and discursively instituted by culture. The present study's main objective was to problematize the processes of constitution of trans students (transgender people, transsexual people, travestis, among other possibilities of identification within the scope of transgenerity) in schools in the city of Juiz de Fora/MG in relation to their school experience. The investigation used narrative interviews with students aged 11 to 17, who were, at the time of the research, attending the final years of elementary school (Ensino Fundamental II), high school (Ensino Médio), and/or youth and adult education (EJA). The analysis of the narratives problematized experiences that mark/marked the school trajectory of trans students, in relation to education professionals, staff, and peers, considering that the school acts in the processes of constitution of subjects. Foucault-inspired discourse analysis was the methodology used to analyze the interviews. Thus, issues involving the process of self-identification as a trans person*, the use of the bathroom, the social name, questions about the performance of LGBTQIA+ militancy, strategies and resistances within the school environment, experiences with passability, homophobia, and transphobia were narrated. Although the experiences of each participant have similar aspects, their trajectories are singular.