This contribution presents the preliminary results of the predoctoral project on transphobic school bullying. In Spain, the high bullying rates and increasing cases of suicides of trans* and non-binary children, adolescents, and youth set an alarm on the problem of violence against children and adolescents who defy the gender assignation at birth (Alises, 2018; Cover, 2012). Attending to the United Nations, the European Commission and the most relevant LGBTQI+ organization, the problem of LGBTQI-phobia seems to be a critical point that must be tackled both in educational and other social institutions, attending to its massive and cruel consequences in the quality of life and education and well-being of the victims (Council of Europe, 2011; ILGA-Europe, 2018; Van Den Brink & Dunne, 2018). In addition, there is an updated and impressive national legal framework (Laws 8/2017, 2/2014 & 11/2014) progressing towards sexual and gender sensitivity in schools, proposing exhaustive protocols to fight LGBTQI-phobia. However, evidence shows that the rates of hate crimes against the LGBTQI+ community in Spain and the school bullying targetting transgender or non-binary students keeps growing and negatively impacting their lives and futures (Alises, 2018; Formby, 2013). Considering all these premises, the research overall objective has been to identify the forms of violence and successful strategies to prevent and intervene in school transphobic bullying, improving life, education, and academic success of LGBTQI+ students. 

The theoretical framework that has shaped this research has been founded in the Feminist and Queer Theory, Child Protagonism, and Bystander Intervention perspectives (Miller, 2016; Vidu et al., 2017). All of them have added significant value through (1) the problematization of gender and sexuality normativity in schools, (2) the acknowledgment of the children and adolescents who defy the gender assignation at birth as research subjects and protagonists, and (3) the consideration of all people involved in educational and familiar settings as potential actors against discrimination and violence. Furthermore, the literature review has evidenced that potential factors might be in the work with all the school community, the improvement of teacher education and the collaboration with families for a transversal transformation of educational settings into safer and more open spaces towards gender and sexuality diversity (Aparicio-García et al., 2018; Hillier et al., 2019). 

Researchers designed a qualitative approach to gather first-hand and deep information on transgender and non-binary children, adolescents, and youth who transitioned in educational settings. This study followed a feminist ethnographical approach to study the invisible and subtle relations of power that entangle transphobic violence and discrimination in schools (Levinson, 1998). As well, this work has not only achieved scientific goals but also prioritized social and political impact and transformation towards gender and sexuality equality (Puigvert et al., 2017). Thus, we have articulated a set of subjects-centered research instruments aiming to gather evidence on how violence and discrimination show up in schools and impacts their life. On the one hand, the set of instruments were semi-structured interviews, writings, lines of life, emotional maps, and body maps in which a total of 13 trans and non-binary children, adolescents and youth fulfilled. On the other hand, 17 accompanying adults, relatives, health and education professionals were interviewed too regarding their involvement in the problem of transphobic bullying. The transformative approach alongside the need of grounding the research to the protagonists’ reality has been key in the design and implementation of the research (Gómez González, 2021). Therefore, this project has been reviewed and informed by both the Ethical Board at the Rovira i Virgili University (Code number CEIPSA-2020-TD-0001) and the Advisory Committee formed by experts, professionals, and protagonists in the field.

The most relevant findings are related to the identification of the aggressors re/producing violence and their relevance in the educational process and future success of the victims. We have detected the key role of relatives and school staff in the protection or reproduction of violence against children and adolescents in the Spanish context. Apart from their potential in protecting or reproducing the violence, various forms of violence have been identified as appearing in classrooms and other school spaces while educators are not present. In those spaces, the role of peers has been relevant as they are prone to be the ones exerting more violence due to their gender identity or gender expression. As well, other forms of internalized or normalized violence are very commonly suffered by the victims, such as avoiding telling the felt gender identity, disguising or masking their gender expression, or developing complex coming out strategies. All these forms of violence have had serious consequences in their life and academic success, to an extent that it might force victims to drop out of school or even consider suicide. In contrast, the role of educational centers, staff, peers, and their familiar context seems to be very compelling for overcoming the violence and gaining life quality. The research findings point at the work with all these actors towards increasing the sensibility of the school as a key for the elimination of gender stereotypes and the imposition of binary gender identities. As well, the improvement and update of the teacher education, professional development, and the national curricula in LGBT+ perspective have been proved to be a great protective factor in the school. By last, the inclusion and implementation of current policy and anti-bullying protocols by the staff are one of the key elements to act successfully against this problem.

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