« ON VOUS TOLÈRE, MAIS ON NE VOUS ACCEPTE PAS » : LUTTES POUR LA RECONNAISSANCE DES JEUNES TRANS DANS UN CONTEXTE CISNORMATIF

De plus en plus, on note un intérêt grandissant pour les jeunes trans mais la plupart des articles publiés visent à décrire leurs expériences en mettant souvent l’accent sur des aspects psychologiques, individuels et relationnels. Encore rares sont les articles qui se penchent sur le contexte social et sur la capacité et la motivation des jeunes à affecter le changement social. Cet article explore la vie sociale des jeunes trans et la manière dont celle-ci a des implications profondes et concrètes dans la vie quotidienne de ces jeunes. L’article présente également les processus de résistance de ces jeunes et comment les dénis de reconnaissance contribuent à produire des changements sociaux dans un contexte transphobe et cisnormatif. La discussion met en lumière l’apport de l’éthique de la reconnaissance pour mieux comprendre les dynamiques de mobilisation et de résistance, ainsi que certaines pistes d’intervention pour le travail social.There is a growing interest for trans youth, but most published articles aim to describe their experiences by focusing on psychological, individual and relational aspects. Few articles examine the social context and the ability and motivation of youth to affect social change. This article explores the social life of trans youth and how it has profound and concrete implications in their daily lives. The article also presents the processes of resistance among these youth and how denials of recognition contribute to social change in a transphobic and cisnormative context. The discussion highlights the contribution of the Ethics of Recognition to a better understanding of the dynamics of mobilization and resistance, as well as some avenues for social work intervention

Applying Self-Directed Groupwork and Social Action Research Methodology with francophone parents of trans children and youth in Rural Quebec

Parental support is an important protective factor in preventing suicide among trans youth. However, parents often struggle to accept their child’s gender transition.  Having access to a group and to meeting other parents facilitates the acceptance process, but support groups are rare and even more so outside urban areas. The research project discussed in this article was developed to understand specifically the experience of parents of francophone trans youth living in rural and remote communities in Quebec. A Self-Directed Group approach (Mullender, Ward and Fleming 2013), combined with Social Action Research (Author et al. 2015) was initiated to offer a platform for parents to explore the specificities of parenting a trans child in rural francophone Quebec.  Parents were recruited through social and traditional media and a series of group meetings was planned to collect data and as well as to facilitate the parents' mobilization.  Despite applying the Self-Directed Groupwork principles and process, many challenges were encountered, stimulating a number of reflections on the use of self-directed group work and social action in remote geographical areas. This paper explores some of those challenges and discusses a possible way forward for research