Portuguese Journal of Social Science - The Portuguese Rainbow: LGBTQI+ Rights and Experiences, Sept 2021

Focusing on trans and gender-diverse people in five European countries (Portugal, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Sweden), the Transrights research addressed one of the most challenging transformations of the institutional order of gender that thus far still reproduces the normative opposition between male and female. Rather than proposing a descriptive monograph, our angle of analysis emphasized the workings of gender through the ‘voices’ of trans people (within and beyond Europe) and their complex forms of self-identification vis-à-vis the institutional apparatus (whether legal, medical, political or even social-scientific). Drawing on an extensive empirical research that combined document analysis of legal and medical developments, multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews, we investigated the doings of gender and gender politics. Three major findings are highlighted and summarized through a comparative strategy: trans/gender identifications, creative agency and embodiments; institutional and legal recognition vis-à-vis the medical apparatus and the “marketization” of trans-related healthcare; and discrimination, oppression and violence.

This article reviews Portugal’s path in addressing non-normative gender identities, focusing particularly on legal gender recognition. While recognition is not limited to enshrining rights in the law – especially the right to the acknowledgement of (self)identity by the state – the legal step is one that is clearly fundamental to making overall recognition a reality. Portugal is an interesting case study, having shifted in less than a decade – the second of the twenty-first century – from a complete absence of trans issues in legislation to the passage of a law on gender identity based on self-determination. Using analysis of legislation and interviews of trans people and representatives of the LGBTQI+ movement conducted during two research projects spanning the last fifteen years, we analyse the macro-level transformations and how they are reflected, at the micro-level, in the trans people’s inclusion in or exclusion from legal recognition, and in the extension of this basic condition of citizenship.

Ageing is increasingly at the centre of both local and international politics and policies. However, the attention on the intersection of ageing and sexual diversity has remained largely absent from research agendas in the Portuguese context. This article addresses issues of care and intimacy experienced by self-identified lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people over the age of 60 both before and during the COVID-19 outbreak in Portugal. The article is divided into four sections. In the introduction, the main issue addressed will be an explanation that draws on a theoretical framework informed by both LGBTQI+ and ageing and life course studies. The second section gives a necessarily brief overview of the socio-legal context of LGBTQI+ issues in Portugal and provides information regarding methodological aspects of the research. The third section explores experiences, prior and during the pandemic, of older adults who self-identify as LGB in the Portuguese context. Accompanied by excerpts from interviews originally carried out in 2019 and 2020, this section is structured around three topics: pandemic 2.0.; isolation and relational loneliness and health and care networks. The last section discusses the current impact of ageing and of ageism on older LGB adults, while also offering recommendations for future policy and scholarly work.

Trans people’s civil rights and visibility on issues related to gender identity have come a long way in the last decade in Portugal and worldwide. This article presents a study focused on the experiences of families of trans and gender diverse youth. It aims to understand and examine the experiences, considerations and challenges that parents, siblings and other relatives of young trans and gender diverse people encounter within the current Portuguese context. Eleven participants from six family units were interviewed, with the degrees of kinship of mother (n = 4), father (n = 3), sister (n = 3) and grandmother (n = 1). Results show a diversity of positive and less positive experiences, resources and challenges within the nuclear and extended families, within the educational and health systems and, lastly, within the larger social and cultural context. Main implications and recommendations for intervention and public policies in this field are presented.

This article presents a narrative review about the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) youths in Portuguese schools. The Portuguese context and social climate towards LGBTQ people were presented and a review of existing legislation, policies and interventions focusing on LGBTQ youth was conducted. Results from social science research with this population were examined and complemented with data from a recent survey. Pervasiveness of prejudice and discrimination and the concurrent need to manage the visibility of LGBTQ identities both in school context and in the family were confirmed. Support from school is not always guaranteed, and evidence of anti-bullying policies that explicitly mention sexual orientation and gender identity is still scarce. Some implications for future practice and research are drawn.