“ ‘Having Words For Everything'. Institutionalising Gender Migration In Spain (1998-2008)”, Sexualities, Law and Sexuality, Volume 14 Issue 3 Junio 2011. 334-353. (main author, togethere with Coll-Planas, Gerard). (original) (raw)
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In this paper I will present an overview of the current legal, social and political situation of transsexual and transgendered people in Spain. The study is based on qualitative data gathered from in-depth interviews with transsexual people, transgendered activists and legal experts in Spain, including some aspects of a crosscultural comparison between Spain and the UK. The empirical study accounts for the development of social policies related to sex-reassignment and their evolution in the last decade in Spain, as well as for transsexual associations and activism, issues of social exclusion and prostitution.
the narratives of transgender rights mobilization in Spain
The social and political debates on transgender rights in Spain is the focus of this article: it seeks to place current initiatives, claims and policy developments as well as political actors in their social, political and institutional context. It also explores new develop- ments in the cultural, social and political ‘trans’ agenda. Particular attention is then paid to mapping trans discourses, made possible through theories of frame analysis and problem representation. Also, I discuss the benefits and limits of different kinds of framing strategies and discourses that have been used in the struggle for transgender rights, in which one of the most relevant criteria that organize the representations is the so-called ‘gender dysphoria’ frame. As a result, the emphasis on a medical and legal diagnosis has led to a new mobilization: anti-psychiatrization activism, which questions the binary organization of society.
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This paper draws on a qualitative research project concerning the relationship between trans people's mental health and well-being, pressures, social policy and heteronormative gender norms in Spain. Drawing on interviews carried out with trans people from all regions and generations, we utilize an ecological framework to illustrate how a socially entrenched heteronormativity, pressures trans people to comply with gender norms that impact negatively upon their mental health and well being. The paper argues that the legal changes in Spain are not enough in themselves to bring about social change, but rather, Spanish social policy makers also need to challenge gender categorization, and work towards transforming public discourses on gender issues if trans people are to gain full social recognition and equal social rights.
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Since 2012, 16 laws granting rights to trans individuals have been passed in Spanish regions. How can we assess the quality of these laws? Do they all profoundly and positively transform trans people's well-being? Do they tackle the economic marginalization of trans people? Do they have a symbolic impact? Using multidimensional criteria, I analyze trans-specific and LGBTI+ antidiscrimination policies to define trans-positivity in policymaking. This article uses feminist theory to judge this legislation's value, contrasting that with the insights of activists and policymakers interviewed for this purpose. Benefiting from the discussion between Nancy Fraser (1995) and Judith Butler (1997), the quality of trans legislation can be assessed by looking at both cultural recognition and economic redistribution. In addition, following Andrea Krizsan and Emanuela Lombardo (2013), I also analyze these laws through the lens of empowerment and transformation. Having made the elusive relationship between sexuality and political economy in trans laws in Spain visible, I call for greater imagination to envisage other sorts of political actions for trans people.
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Salud Colectiva, 2014
The social weight of transsexual groups has been and continues to be crucial in many aspects regarding transsexuality, from the progressive elimination of discrimination to influence in the legislative branch. This paper especially discusses a classic demand of these groups, comprehensive medical treatment of transsexual people within the National Health System. Thus, progress in the development of an adequate healthcare system for these groups, their treatment in the legal systems of Spain in general and of some of its autonomous communities with more noteworthy laws (especially in Andalusia, an autonomous community that has been pioneering in this regard, as well as the Basque Country and Navarre) and remaining challenges will be observed in this work. The article will also take particular note of the substantial developments that the publication of the Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has established in this area.
Spain has captured international attention with regards to equality for sexual minorities, recently approving laws that allow same-sex couples to marry under the same conditions as different-sex couples (Law 13/2005) and that allow transgender people to change their name in the register without having to go through compulsory surgery (Law 3/2007). Using intersectionality as a frame- work for my analysis, I explore the limitations of the notion of equality in both legal texts by adding an analysis that includes not only sexuality, but also gender, ethnicity, age, and class. Both laws aimed at satisfying the demands of social movements and were designed to overcome inequality and have a relevant sym- bolic impact. Despite this, it is argued, they were not framed to transform society in depth. Both laws are contributing to reproduce inequality by not taking into account multiple discriminations.
Public Policies Advances on Transgender People in Portugal
Transgender Health: Advances and New Perspectives [Working Title]
When rights are guaranteed through public policy, the probability of becoming de facto rights rather than just de jure rights is greatly increased. On the one hand, the conditions and mechanisms for its implementation are created or, at least, foreseen, and the conditions for effective access by all people to the rights in question are reviewed. This is the case of Portugal in promoting the rights of trans people, following a consolidated public policy on equality and gender (since 2007). The countries in Europe (European Union) have adopted different perspectives and paths ahead regarding the definition and implementation of comprehensive public policies for trans people. Previous studies about Portuguese case reveal that health, work, but also rights in the family and sexuality, are fragile domains, which place trans people in a situation of great vulnerability. Adopting a participatory methodology, the chapter presents the diversity in political and ideological positions and deba...
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This themed issue, 'Trans* policy, practice and lived experience within a European context', emerges at a time when global understandings of gender are rapidly changing across social, cultural, political, policy and legal spheres. The understanding of gender as the materialisation of the categories of male or female that are fixed at birth is in flux, and this issue speaks to these shifts at conceptual, procedural and empirical levels.
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International Journal of Transgender Health, 2021
Background: There is dearth of experiential information about transgender men's sexual and reproductive rights needs and challenges in Argentina, a country that passed the first, and then most comprehensive, Gender Identity Law. Local rules, and administrative, social service, and medical policies fail to meet the transformative scope of the law, thus, creating a tension between trans identity recognition, and medical services. Aims: This study aimed to illustrate Argentinean trans men's challenges with the medical and healthcare system, when seeking to become pregnant, in prenatal care, or when needing an abortion. Methods: This study sought to counter exploitative research engagement on potentially vulnerable populations. It did so through examining newspaper coverage of trans men's selfrepresentation. Following online media searches, the authors identified three trans men's public narratives about accessing medical services. The authors utilized thematic analysis to develop themes based on the men's accounts of experiences related to administrative violence. Results: Themes developed focused on (mis)gendering by medical staff, either inadvertently or intentionally, as well as the layers of institutional violence lived by the trans men vis a vis the laws and public policies already in place. Discussion: The paper closes by discussing implications for clinical services. It seeks to question implementations that center cisgender experiences, in order to take into account other identities, bodies and experiences.