CRITERIOS DE CALIFICACIÓN

We started all youth group sessions with an opening circle ‘names and pronouns’. For this we usually sat in a circle with perhaps one or two spare chairs. The circle was fairly round and people sat close together, chairs almost touching. If we were outside we stood in a circle. Graeme often said something about 4D and the ongoing project. Then he would say we are going to do ‘names and pronouns’. I might also say something in the introduction to encourage the possibility of trying out new names or pronouns. Graeme would ask for a volunteer to start. They would say their name and their chosen pronoun: for example ‘I am Tanya and I go by she’. This continued round the circle which, as well as the young people, included all workers, volunteers and facilitators for the session.

Following ‘names and pronouns’ we established a working agreement for the session, either making a new one, or referring to a previous one if the session was part of an ongoing project. The working agreement was written on a large piece of paper which was stuck on the wall throughout the session; it was folded at the end of the session and kept for follow-on sessions. The items included in the working agreement changed little. Young people were asked to contribute

and invariably the same items were brought up by young people who had been to 4D before. Occasionally either Graeme or I would add something, based either on our observations or young people’s feedback from a previous session. Items included the use of mobile phones, listening to others, and trying new activities.

The use of pronouns was always one of the first items to be included in the working agreement. It was agreed that people should be referred to by their chosen pronoun, but also what to do when the wrong pronoun was used. It was explained that ‘we all make mistakes, if you make a mistake apologise and move on’, but ‘ask if you have forgotten or are unsure’ to avoid this situation. Sometime after my involvement with 4D explicit permission to challenge people was included if they used the wrong pronoun, and to involve a youth worker if necessary. This was established after a visiting facilitator used the wrong pronoun for a young person. This established that, at least within 4D, gender identity was entirely to be based on how an individual said they identified, not on legal documents or personal presentation. This was so strongly the case that people were expected to check and monitor the pronouns they used about others, and people had a right to challenge people who pronouned them incorrectly. Reference was consistently and frequently made to ‘how you identify’, rather than any other basis for pronoun preference. I interpret this as relating pronoun choice to internally experienced identity rather than a role chosen on that occasion.

As well as being supported by the working agreement the ‘names and pronouns’ circle was framed by new members’ access and introduction to 4D. When new members came to the group they came 15 minutes before the session to meet Graeme and to be introduced to me and any other workers. Graeme explained the understanding of sex and gender within 4D to the newcomer: sex is what you have between your legs and gender is what you have between your ears. This is a view held widely about sex and gender, including in the NHS booklets for young trans people and their families published in 2007 and 2008 (Department of Health, 2007, 2008a). Graeme often explained to newcomers that people’s appearance might be different from how you’d expect given the

pronoun they chose. Following this he would say ‘it’s how you identify that is important and we go with that’.

The explanation of ‘names and pronouns’ and the working agreement established that within the youth group: • Sex, (as assigned at birth) and gender are not linked, that gender is the identity the individual experiences themselves to be. • Pronouns represent gender identity, not any other identity • The individual’s chosen pronoun represents the individual’s experienced gender identity • An individual can declare a pronoun and it need bear no relationship to their presentation.

• The declared pronoun is an expression of identity, not of a role that someone is choosing on that occasion.

The relationship between preferred pronoun and identity needs clarification. Pronouns could not represent the nuance of gender identity; declaring one of binary pronouns ‘he’ and ‘she’ did not mean the individual identified as one of the binary genders male and female. Rather they might identify as transmasculine or transfeminine, or on a gender spectrum towards male or female.

The final point, that declared pronoun represents identity rather than a role, also needs some consideration. Both Graeme and I said regularly that 4D is a space where people can try new names and pronouns. However Graeme said that many trans people tried out names before they decided. This implied that there was a trajectory to making a final decision. This suggested that any ‘trying out’ must be purposeful, that it must be intended to help the young person clarify their identity. (I discuss gender trajectories and legitimation in detail in chapter 8).

The majority of young people who attended during my observations identified trans male or transmasculine and were assigned female at birth and came to the group with a new chosen name and using the pronoun ‘he’. These young people almost always came to the group presenting as conventionally male or masculine. The young people identified as female, who were assigned male at birth, also generally came to the sessions with a new chosen name, and used the pronoun she. They might present as male or female, and this did not affect their pronoun choice. Young people assigned male at birth were more likely than those assigned female at birth to attend one or more youth group sessions where they used their birth name and pronouns before changing their name and pronoun. The young people who identified as genderqueer or outside the gender binary were the most varied. They generally came to the group with a chosen name and specified that they preferred gender-neutral pronouns; these include ‘ze’, ‘they’ and ‘it’. Some changed their preferred name and pronoun from session to session.

We also ended all youth group sessions with a closing circle where people again gave their name and pronoun and made some comment about the session. Those people who identified themselves differently from their birth identity at the start of the session always gave the same name and pronoun at the end of the session. This included the genderqueer young people and those identifying across the gender binary. Sometimes young people who came identifying by their ‘birth name and pronoun’ identified differently at the end of the session; sometimes they identified differently when they came to another session. The new identification was always across the gender binary so if they were assigned male at birth they chose a female name and ‘she’, the reverse for those assigned female at birth. Young people who identified as genderqueer generally brought this identification to their first session. Young people who had chosen not to speak, or had been uncertain about their pronoun in the opening ‘names and pronouns’ circle often gave a name and pronoun at the end of the session, although for some it might be one or two sessions before they gave a name and pronoun. These young people again always chose names and pronouns across the gender binary.