Erasure and agency in sexuality and relationships education and knowledge among trans young people in Australia

ABSTRACT

Sexuality and relationship education (SRE) for trans young people is fraught with ongoing institutional and informational erasure, even as trans young people display considerable agency in navigating their SRE needs. This paper reports on a survey of 112 Australian trans young people, who shared their experiences of SRE (in terms of delivery and content), and their views on three story completion tasks where they were asked to respond to prompts about three fictional stories focused on trans young people (and for some their cisgender partners) and intimacy. Participants reported that SRE was delivered in class and focused on puberty and anatomy, although many participants accessed SRE information informally. Participants overwhelmingly reported the erasure of trans-specific SRE content and suggested that SRE content should include a trans focus. Responses to the story completion task emphasised the agency of the fictional trans young people in asserting their boundaries, deserving respect, being knowledgeable about their bodies and ensuring their safety. Fictional cisgender young people in the story completion tasks were expected to be respectful, and to be guided by trans people (but also to educate themselves). The paper concludes with recommendations for harnessing trans young people’s agency in the context of SRE.

KEYWORDS:

• Trans young people
• sexuality and relationships education
• story completion
• erasure
• agency

Acknowledgments

We begin by acknowledging that we live on the lands of the Kaurna people and the people of the Kulin Nations, and we acknowledge their sovereignty as First Nations people.

Disclosure statement

The first author provided funds to Transcend to support data collection. The second author was paid by Transcend to engage in creation of the survey and write up of findings. The third author is the CEO of Transcend.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The first author was supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, FT130100087. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government or the Australian Research Council.