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An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of How Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth Experience Their Gender Identities

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An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of How Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth Experience Their Gender Identities University of Northern Colorado Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC Dissertations Student Research 5-2021 An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of How Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth Experience Their Gender Identities Michelle N. Saltis Follow this and additional works at: https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations © 2021 MICHELLE N. SALTIS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO Greeley, Colorado The Graduate School AN INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF HOW TRANSGENDER AND GENDER EXPANSIVE YOUTH EXPERIENCE THEIR GENDER IDENTITIES A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Michelle N. Saltis College of Education and Behavioral Sciences Department of Applied Psychology & Counselor Education Counselor Education and Supervision May 2021 This Dissertation by: Michelle N. Saltis Entitled: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of how Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth Experience Their Gender Identities has been approved as meeting the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in College of Education and Behavioral Sciences in Department of Applied Psychology and Counselor Education, Program of Counselor Education and Supervision. Accepted by the Doctoral Committee _______________________________________________________ Jennifer A. Fulling-Smith, PhD, Chair _______________________________________________________ Jennifer L. Murdock Bishop, PhD, Committee Member _________________________________________________ Heather Pendleton-Helm, PhD Committee Member _______________________________________________________ Corey Pierce, PhD, Faculty Representative Date of Dissertation Defense _________________________________________ Accepted by the Graduate School ________________________________________________________________________ Jeri-Anne Lyons, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School Associate Vice President for Research ABSTRACT Saltis, Michelle. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of how Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth Experience Their Gender Identities. Published Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation University of Northern Colorado, 2021 This dissertation presents findings from the first known Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis study of how nine transgender and/or gender expansive youth, aged 13-17, experienced their gender identities and additional intersecting identities. The purpose of this study was to share how transgender and/or gender expansive youth experienced their gender identities, additional intersecting identities, and how they made meaning of these experiences within the contexts of current social, cultural, political, and historical factors. Additionally, this study sought to share the participants’ stories within their own words. The primary research question for this study was: how do transgender and gender expansive youth (TGEY) experience their gender identity? The two guiding sub- questions explored how TGEY experienced their gender identity in relation to their additional intersecting identities, and how TGEY made meaning of their experiences, identities, and their experiences within their identities. The participants engaged in two 60-90 minute interviews with a member-checking meeting following data analysis to ensure their own words were at the forefront of the research. Six superordinate themes highlighted the participants’ narratives and experiences: (1) Gender Identity Journey and Coming Out; (2) Identities and Experiences of Oppression; (3) Navigating Mental Health and Physical Health; (4) Interpersonal Relationships; (5) Navigating Contextual Factors; iii (6) Making Sense of Experiences and Resiliency. These superordinate themes encompassed their gender journeys, experiences of multiple forms of oppression, their interpersonal relationships, mental and physical health concerns, navigating the historical, political, social, and cultural contextual factors within their lives, and their resiliency. Many of the participants’ experiences echoed findings in the literature, while simultaneously strengthening these findings due to the rich qualitative nature of this study. Results from this study have profound implications within the field of counselor education by increasing the knowledge in the field around the complex and nuanced lives of transgender and/or gender expansive youth. The results of this study address an important gap in the counseling literature and provides important implications and conclusions for counselors-in-training, counselors, and counselor educators. The results provide rich narrative of the participants’ lives, intersecting identities and various contextual factors such as historical, social, political, cultural, and historical factors. In addition, counselor educators are able to use these results to help train future counselors and supervisors to engage in transaffirmative approaches with transgender and/or gender expansive youth. Lastly, this study and the results therein are an act of social justice itself by de-centering the researcher’s views and centering that of transgender and/or gender expansive youth. iv AWKNOWLEDGEMENTS There were numerous instrumental people involved in supporting me in the completion of this dissertation, many of whom are named here along with countless others throughout my life. As such, this section is to highlight and acknowledge some of those people that have been instrumental in this journey. First, this project would not have been what it was without the vulnerability, dedication, and passion of my participants. This study was made what it was because of all of your stories. Each and every one of you will forever stay in my heart. The relationships I was able to form with all of you truly made this study so impactful for me, and it will be so impactful to be out in the world. I learned so much from each and every one of you about your lives, the world, and more about myself. John Joe, you were my first participant for this study, and I will never forget the way you carefully navigated our interviews to share your story with me and the world. I appreciated your laugh, humor, and resilience you shared with me for all of the things that you had been through in your life. I have been deeply moved by how you have navigated this world at your age, the deep work you have done around understanding yourself, and how you work through your experiences of power, privilege, and oppression. I have no doubt you will continue to inspire those around you, and that you’ll be able to find your tribe and community in the future. v Lynn, my advocate. You have navigated so much in your life already and accomplished so much. Your dedication to our rights as transgender and gender expansive people was an inspiration to listen to. I appreciated your vulnerability in sharing how you want the world to be a better place and are so outspoken for justice. It was a joy to feel like a part of your world and even a part of your family, like when we went outside to howl at the moon as a part of the COVID-19 tradition. Your care for your friends was so clear to me. I wish you the very best of luck on finishing your last year of high school and navigating the world. I imagine you will continue to make waves as an advocate for the rest of your life. Mason, I will never forget the spunk and tenacity you brought to our sessions. From our first meeting where you shared some of your art with me, until our last moments together, it was an honor to experience the passion you bring to the world around you. You are not afraid to speak out against injustice in the world and stand up for the rights of your fellow non-binary/ agender folx. I loved hearing about your fashion endeavors and your views of the world. I know you were struggling during the times of our interviews and so appreciate that you took the time out of your busy life to meet with me for this project. I wish you all the best and am sending all the healing vibes and inspirations for walks in the forest your way. Mx. Peacock, I will be forever impressed by your candor, the ways you talk about the world, and sarcasm. You challenged me to focus my own research on the wholeness of all the participants and myself by encouraging me to continue to conceptualize our experiences as interconnected instead of solely due to any one identity. I loved hearing about all your travels and interests and friends. You have so many ideas and hopes. I vi hope you continue to write and challenge cisheteronormativity with your creativity. I wish you all the best in navigating through the world and hope you never lose that sense of being as authentically you as possible. Debbie, perhaps someday you will be the president of the United States and I can watch from afar, always knowing we have had this connection. The way you have navigated the world and your experiences will always impress me. You have turned your hurt and pain into advocacy and activism for everyone. You turned your hurt and pain into amazing music that is impactful. You truly are a model for political activism. I appreciate how deeply vulnerable you were in sharing your stories with me. I felt so invited into your life and world during our meetings. I also appreciated your humor and sarcasm and the relationship we built together. I wish you all the best of luck in college and your future political endeavors. Zinniah, I loved our meetings and the ways you were able to share your story and views on the world with those amazing sarcastic jokes you had.
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