Research shows that teachers’ and educators’ responses to gender diversity issues in schools either improves or limits the experiences of students. The school counsellor has an important role to play in this process by working closely with other stakeholders to advocate for transgender, intersex and genderqueer (TIG) students. Following a review of recent developments in the USA, recommendations are made and resources identified to assist school counsellors in validating TIG students, and improving school systems in pursuit of their academic, social and emotional success.

The relatively new field of Queer Theory creates ways of thinking about people living without binary gender, but does not provide for a research model with which to give context to the material struggles of such people. Through the use of Internet discussion groups, the current research project attempts to examine the challenges that people who identify with the concept "genderqueer" describe facing as they fashion selves in social interactions; a process which inevitably requires consumer goods that typically only allow for heteronormative binary gender. Findings suggest that there are similarities in how respondents came to identify with "genderqueer," but such similarities are less present in how they understand and apply the concept to themselves. This study shows a potential conflict arising between academic Queer Theory, which seeks to deconstruct identity categories, and a more popular use of "genderqueer" claimed as an identity by some respondents. In conclusion this thesis examines possibilities for activism and marketing that may come out of "genderqueer" as a widely recognizable identity category.

The aim of this paper is to examine the possibility to be impossible, to examine how the socially intelligible can come to exist. This is done through the concept of sex/gender, as sex/gender has such a determining place in the production of what can be understood as human, it also has the properties to shed light on the possibility to be and exist beyond the socially intelligible. In this paper I will interview and analyze how four genderqueer people understand themselves and their identity in relation to the phenomenon sex/gender. Through Karen Barad’s concept of posthumanist performativity and her conceptualization of phenomena and intra-action I understand sex/gender, not as entities, but as phenomena of ever changing and ever intra-acting agents. The study suggests that the limitations of the concept of sex/gender can be addressed through an understanding of the body as itself a web of intra-actions, that is, the body as a phenomenon.

The objective of this thesis is to examine how respondents who self identify as transgender or genderqueer experience avatar creation systems in digital games. In the wake of GamerGate, gender has become a more prevalent topic of discussion, as such, this thesis seeks to survey transgender and genderqueer people in order to gain a better insight into their their experiences with avatar creation in games, and do they perceive the status quo of current avatar creation systems to be in need of change? If so, how? The results of the survey shows that the respondents use avatar creation systems as a means to experiment in a safe environment with aspects of their identity expression, and to improve avatar creation systems, more options need to be added for diverse body types and non-binary identities. / Syftet med denna studie är att examinera erfarenheterna bland respondenter som identifierar sig som trans eller icke-binära personer av avatar skapande system i digitala spel. I kölvattnet av GamerGate har genus blivit ett mer förekommande ämne för diskussion. På grund av detta kommer denna studie att utföra en undersökning bland trans och icke-binära personer om deras erfarenheter med avatar skapande system i spel, och om de anser att förändringar bör genomföras för mer inkluderande avatar skapande system? Och i så fall, vad? Resultaten från undersökningen visar att respondenterna använder avatar skapande system som ett verktyg för att experimentera i en säker miljö med aspekter av deras identitets uttryck, och för att förbättra avatar skapande system bättre krävs mer alternativ för olika kroppstyper och icke-binära identiteter.

Aim. To highlight how girlfags and guydykes describe their identities and their experience and interpretation of the identity labels. Background and previous studies. The sexual minority identity of girlfags and guydykes are sometimes perceived as provocative in their contradictory labels. There is little to no previous research on the identities and what is known is mostly presented on internet blogs and forums. The identities seemingly involve aspects on sexual orientation, gender and sexual practice. Research related to sexual minorities, non-normative sex, LGBT and the risk of ill-health with identifying as a sexual minority is presented. Method. Semi-structured interviews in a method of choice was applied to this study so as to ease contact with a sexual minority group. Participants were sought through a Facebook © forum, with a total of eleven interviews with two guydykes and nine girlfags, through video call (2), phone call (1), in person (1), email (6), email with sound files (1). The data was analysed with content analysis. Results and analysis. The results were extensive and had to be delimited. The results were analysed in a sexual constructionist setting using the concept of the heterosexual matrix (Butler, 1990) and the concepts of gender/sex sexuality and nurturance and eroticism presented in van Anders’ (2015) Sexual Configurations Theory (SCT). Three main categories were presented; A play on gender, Sexuality and Orientation, and Identity. Conclusions. There is pride portrayed in the girlfag and guydykes identities. The identity breaks norms regarding gender and sexuality and even sexual orientation within an LGBT context. The results indicate that further research on transgender issues and relational and social aspects of the identities is needed. Keywords: autoandrophilia, gender identity, genderqueer, girlfag, guydyke, homosexuality, LGBT, non-normative, sexual minorities, lesbian man, queer.

The DSM-IV-TR diagnosis Gender Identity Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (GID NOS) is used to describe individuals who have gender issues but do not meet the current criteria for GID. As part of a consensus process conducted by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the authors make the following recommendations for DSM 5: removal from the chapter on sexual disorders, more specific diagnostic criteria, retention of clinical significance criteria, and removal of exclusionary criteria of Intersex/Disorders of Sex Development. Changes to the existing clinical examples were also recommended, suggesting additional clinical examples that encompass a broader range of gender-variance and more commonly found transgender presentations. The diagnosis must reflect the severity of the clinical issues that represent legitimate identity experiences and possible need for gender-confirming treatments.

Das Präfix "trans-" ist aus dem Lateinischen hergeleitet und bedeutet "jenseits". Bezogen auf Geschlecht deutet trans* auf Lebensweisen hin, die nicht in einer (vermeintlich natürlichen und angeborenen) Zweigeschlechtlichkeit aufgehen. Transgeschlechtlichkeit wurde in aktivistischen Zusammenhängen in Abgrenzung zu der medizinisch-psychologisch geprägten Kategorie Transsexualität entwickelt. Seit den späten 1960er Jahren eröffnete sich, vor dem Hintergrund ethnomethodologischer Theoriebildung, ein Feld der sozialwissenschaftlichen Untersuchung transgeschlechtlicher Lebensweisen. Im Gegenzug dazu perspektivieren die Queer- und Gender Studies Transgeschlechtlichkeit in den 1990er Jahren neu.

Das Präfix "trans-" ist aus dem Lateinischen hergeleitet und bedeutet "jenseits". Bezogen auf Geschlecht deutet trans* auf Lebensweisen hin, die nicht in einer (vermeintlich natürlichen und angeborenen) Zweigeschlechtlichkeit aufgehen. Transgeschlechtlichkeit wurde in aktivistischen Zusammenhängen in Abgrenzung zu der medizinisch-psychologisch geprägten Kategorie Transsexualität entwickelt. Seit den späten 1960er Jahren eröffnete sich, vor dem Hintergrund ethnomethodologischer Theoriebildung, ein Feld der sozialwissenschaftlichen Untersuchung transgeschlechtlicher Lebensweisen. Im Gegenzug dazu perspektivieren die Queer- und Gender Studies Transgeschlechtlichkeit in den 1990er Jahren neu.

The term 'men who have sex with men' (MSM) as commonly used by HIV/AIDS researchers and policy makers is said to describe an obvious group of men. Or does it? While MSM disrupts the homosexual/heterosexual dichotomy through focusing on sexual practices rather than sexual identity, it remains entrenched in binary understandings of sex and gender. Influenced by queer and trans theories, a genderqueer methodology is employed to examine what discourses are deployed when MSM are categorized as a seemingly homogenous group. Who are the “men” in MSM and what are the material consequences of MSM discourse in HIV/AIDS work? Guided by feminist poststructural and Foucauldian theories, this study highlights how MSM discourse functions to exclude trans, intersex, and other non-normative sexed and gendered people while considering the potentially deadly effects of this discourse on those outside of MSM categorizations particularly focusing on its use in the Canadian Guidelines on STIs.

Resumen Natural Hysteria... es una investigacio'n basada en una pra'ctica transdisciplinaria que documenta el proceso de produccio'n de un ciclo de performances basadas en el texto: rituales, presentaciones teatrales, acciones callejeras y presentaciones de video, canciones y talleres. Es una respuesta arti'stica al deterioro de nuestro medio ambiente y los ataques contra la diversidad cultural y biolo'gica que esta'n llevando a cabo un sistema capitalista basado en la acumulacio'n de riqueza a toda costa que nos esta' llevando al borde de un colapso ecolo'gico. Se procede a trave's de un ana'lisis de otras pra'cticas arti'sticas disidentes que comparten una perspectiva queer, feminista, postcolonial o ecolo'gica que las vincula a los conceptos explorados en mi trabajo para contextualizarlo en el campo expandido de las artes contempora'neas. La "histeria" alternativa que forma la base conceptual de este proyecto tiene sus inicios en los albores de la edad moderna y traza una historia de dominacio'n de los "otros": se centra principalmente en las mujeres, en el ge'nero y en los disidentes sexuales, las personas de color y los animales. La explotacio'n de los recursos naturales y humanos es una consecuencia de una cosmovisio'n basada en el establecimiento de oposiciones binarias que permiten que el "otro" sea clasificado y dominado. Por ejemplo: hombre / mujer, blanco / negro, hetero / homosexual, cultura / naturaleza. La construccio'n de estos "otros" - "femenino", "nativo", "queer", "naturaleza" - excluye a estos sujetos de la construccio'n de una identidad dominante que, sin embargo, depende de estas categori'as para su existencia. En el Renacimiento, los campos de las ciencias y las humanidades no estaban separados. La visio'n mecanicista del mundo no habi'a superado por completo las creencias paganas en la magia y en una fuerza espiritual que reside en todos los seres. Esta visio'n era una reliquia de la era precristiana y finalmente seri'a erradicada por las fuerzas unidas del Estado y la Iglesia a trave's de los procesos de la Inquisicio'n, la caza de brujas, la colonizacio'n y la nueva religio'n de la "Ciencia". Todos estos procesos han producido un gran cambio en nuestra relacio'n con la naturaleza, que en la actualidad se considera una entidad totalmente inerte. La naturaleza ya no forma parte de nuestro ser y se ha convertido simplemente en materia prima. La colonizacio'n continu'a hoy bajo una poli'tica neoliberal que utiliza el concepto de desarrollo para requisar territorio de los pueblos indi'genas a fin de explotar sus recursos naturales. Esto se justifica clasificando estas personas como primitivas porque su modo de vida se basa en vivir en equilibrio con la naturaleza. La funcio'n de una pra'ctica arti'stica poli'ticamente comprometida es desafiar la nocio'n de que no existe una alternativa al sistema actual. El marco teo'rico y arti'stico de esta investigacio'n ha conducido al desarrollo de un alter ego performativo, el chama'n transge'nero Geyserbird, y a la configuracio'n de una serie de performances que incluye rituales participativos, instalaciones con presencia y la reapropiacio'n queer de espacios industriales abandonados. El chama'n transge'nero es un ser espiritual que va ma's alla' de las limitaciones del sistema de ge'nero binario y se conecta con las culturas indi'genas. El despliegue de esta figura en un contexto contempora'neo invita al pu'blico a imaginar otras posibilidades para si' mismos y para nuestra sociedad. / Abstract Natural Hysteria... is a trans-disciplinary practice led investigation which documents the process of production of a cycle of text based performances -rituals, street actions, theatrical presentations, and video presentations, songs and workshops. It is an artistic response to the deterioration of our environment and the attacks on cultural and biological diversity being carried out by a capitalist system based on the accumulation of wealth at all costs which is leading us to the border of an ecological collapse. It proceeds through an analyses of other dissident artistic practices which share a queer, feminist postcolonial or ecological perspective linking them to the concepts explored in my work in order to contextualise it in the expanded field of the contemporary arts. The alternative "hysteria" that forms the conceptual basis of this project has its beginnings in the dawn of the modern age and traces a history of domination of those "others": focusing mainly on women, gender and sexual dissidents, people of colour and animals. The exploitation of natural and human resources is a consequence of a worldview based on the establishment of binary oppositions that allow the "other" to be classified and dominated. For example: man / woman, white / black, hetero / homosexual, culture / nature. The construction of these "others" - the "feminine", the "native", the "queer", "nature" - excludes these subjects from the construction of a master identity that, nevertheless, depends on these categories for its existence. In the Renaissance the fields of the sciences and the humanities were not separated. The mechanistic view of the world had not completely overcome pagan beliefs in magic and in a spiritual force which resides in all beings. This vision was a relic of the pre-Christian era and would finally be eradicated by the united forces of State and Church through the processes of the Inquisition, the witch hunts, colonization and the new religion of "Science". All of these processes have produced a huge change in our relationship with nature, currently seen as a totally inert entity. Nature is no longer part of our being and has became nothing more than raw material. Colonisation continues today under a neoliberal politics which uses the concept of development to requisition territory from indigenous people in order to exploit its natural resources. This is justified by qualifying these people as primitive because their way of life is based on living in equilibrium with nature. The function of a politically engaged artistic practise is to challenge the notion that no alternative exists to the current system. The theoretical and artistic framework of this investigation has led to the development of a performative alter ego, the transgender shaman Geyserbird, and to the configuration of a series of performances which included participatory rituals, installations with presence and the queer appropriation of abandoned industrial spaces. The transgender shaman is a spiritual being who goes beyond the limitations of the binary gender system and connects to indigenous cultures. The deployment of this figure in a contemporary context, invites the public to imagine other possibilities for themselves and for our society / Resum Natural Hysteria... e's una investigacio' basada en una pra¿ctica transdisciplina¿ria que documenta el proce's de produccio' d'un cicle de performances basades en el text: rituals, presentacions teatrals, acciones al carrers i presentacions de vi'deo, canc¿ons i tallers. E's una resposta arti'stica a la deteriorament del nostre medi ambient i els atacs contra la diversitat cultural i biolo¿gica que esta¿ duent a terme un sistema capitalista basat en l'acumulacio' de riquesa costi el que costi que ens esta¿ portant a la vora d'un col·lapse ecolo¿gic. Es procedeix a trave's d'una ana¿lisi d'altres pra¿ctiques arti'stiques dissidents que comparteixen una perspectiva queer, feminista, postcolonial o ecolo¿gica que les vincula amb els conceptes explorats en el meu treball per contextualitzar-ho en el camp expandit de les arts contempora¿nies. La "histe¿ria" alternativa que forma la base conceptual d'aquest projecte te' els seus inicis en les albors de l'edat moderna i trac¿a una histo¿ria de dominacio' dels "altres": se centra principalment en les dones, en el ge¿nere i en els dissidents sexuals, les persones de color i els animals. L'explotacio' dels recursos naturals i humans e's una consequ¿e¿ncia d'una cosmovisio' basada en l'establiment d'oposicions bina¿ries que permeten que l'"altre" sigui classificat i dominat. Per exemple: home / dona, blanc / negre, hetero / homosexual, cultura / naturalesa. La construccio' d'aquests "altres" - "femeni'", "natiu", "queer", "naturalesa" - exclou aquests subjectes de la construccio' d'una identitat dominant que, no obstant aixo¿, depe'n d'aquestes categories per a la seua existe¿ncia. En el Renaixement, els camps de les cie¿ncies i les humanitats no estaven separats. La visio' mecanicista del mo'n no havia superat per complet les creences paganes en la ma¿gia i en una forc¿a espiritual que resideix en tots els e'ssers. Aquesta visio' era una reli'quia de l'era precristiana i finalment seria eradicada per les forces unides de l'Estat i l'Esgle'sia a trave's dels processos de la Inquisicio', la cac¿a de bruixes, la colonitzacio' i la nova religio' de la "Cie¿ncia". Tots aquests processos han produi¿t un gran canvi en la nostra relacio' amb la naturalesa, que en l'actualitat es considera una entitat totalment inerta. La naturalesa ja no forma part del nostre e'sser i s'ha convertit simplement en mate¿ria preval. La colonitzacio' continua avui sota una poli'tica neoliberal que utilitza el concepte de desenvolupament per a requisar territori dels pobles indi'genes a fi d'explotar els seus recursos naturals. Aixo¿ es justifica classificant aquestes persones com a primitives perque¿ la seua manera de vida es basa en viure en equilibri amb la naturalesa. La funcio' d'una pra¿ctica arti'stica poli'ticament compromesa e's desafiar la nocio' que no existeix una alternativa al sistema actual. El marc teo¿ric i arti'stic d'aquesta investigacio' ha condui¿t al desenvolupament d'un alter ego performatiu, el xaman transge¿nere Geyserbird, i a la configuracio' d'una se¿rie de performances que inclou rituals participatius, instal·lacions amb prese¿ncia i la reapropiacio' queer d'espais industrials abandonats. El xaman transge¿nere e's un ser espiritual que va me's enlla¿ de les limitacions del sistema de ge¿nere binari i es connecta amb les cultures indi'genes. El desplegament d'aquesta figura en un context contemporani convida al pu'blic a imaginar altres possibilitats per a ells mateixos i per a la nostra societat. / Bell, G. (2018). NATURAL HYSTERIA (a queer response to ecocide): An exercise in Living Art, Participatory Rituals and Queer Ecology -or- How I discovered Geyserbird, the Transgender Shaman within [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/111925 / TESIS