Famílias em transição: uma etnografia sobre relacionalidade, gênero e identidade nas vidas trans

Abstract

This research aims to understand how family relations of transgender men and women change through their gender transition, investigating processes and practices of relatedness in gender and family relations. Research subjects were mothers of transgender children, as well as transgender men and women, with whom I recorded in-depth interviews and whose lives I followed during 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork in João Pessoa, Paraíba, between 2018 and 2019. Fieldwork sites were government agencies and institutions of public policies for travestis and transexuals, and a medical ambulatory of the public health system that provides specialized care for gender transition. I also followed the activities of an association of families and parents of gays, lesbians, and transgender people called Mães pela Diversidade (Mothers for Diversity), participating in mutual-help meetings, gatherings, parades, protests, and other kinds of events. I analyse how families became active participants in their children’s gender transition as they learned and acknowledged different discourses and knowledges, participated in institutions, and interacted with specialists such as medical doctors and psychologists. I also considered differences and particularities between families with transgender young children and those of transgender men and women. Gender transition’s effects overflow beyond the individual experiences of those who transition, moving transgender people’s families to create new ways to relate and interact with each other. It creates disruptions as well as transformations in identities, memories, and family ties.