Trans and nonbinary students’ experiences of unrecognition: What can teacher allies do better?

In this article, I explore the experiences of trans and nonbinary students at a Finnish vocational school and discuss the abilities of their teacher allies to support them. Drawing on recognition theory and interviews with trans and nonbinary students and their teachers, I find that unrecognition is a central experience in the lives of trans and nonbinary students. Their gender is often not recognized in the school environment where they encounter binary-gender language and structures, misgendering, assumptions about a binary-gender appearance, and a lack of representation in study courses. However, these experiences of unrecognition do not inevitably lead to their exclusion. Trans and nonbinary students resist their unrecognition both directly and indirectly, receive support from their teachers and classmates, and describe some exceptionally positive experiences and pockets of appreciation that they have found. Although the teacher allies offer some support, their support abilities are hindered by two misconceptions: an overly positive interpretation of trans visibility and the idealization of silence around gender diversity. I conclude that gender neutrality can be a problematic approach for supporting the inclusion of trans and nonbinary people and call for recognizing many genders and discussing them openly.