Teachers who ”try to be progressive”? Trans and non-binary young people’s experiences in school in Sweden

In this presentation, I will discuss results from a study with young trans and non-binary people on their experiences in school in Sweden. On the one hand, I am interested in the production of vulnerability through and within schools (rather than showing (off) trans and non-binary young people as the wound). Here, Natacha Kennedy’s terminology of cultural cis-genderism, Iwo Nord, Signe Bremer Gagnesjö and Erika Alm’s discussion of cis-normativity and Dean Spade’s concept of administrative violence are helpful. On the other hand, I want to look at moments and contexts where young trans and non-binary people are not made vulnerable. These are moments when teachers used trans-inclusive pedagogies and when structures were in place or set in motion that allowed the trans and non-binary young people to participate in their education without being excluded, and allowed their classmates to learn more about gender.