Rooting for the Dissociative Island: Trauma Narratives on Discrimination, Microaggression, and Resilience of Transgender People in Taiwan

Background and Purpose: In the global LGBTQIA+ movement, Taiwan emerged as the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2019. However, Taiwan still lacks extensive discourse on transgender rights and related issues, with scant research specifically addressing the transgender experiences in Taiwan. Although transgender issues have gradually gained visibility in recent years, instances of gender-based violence against transgender individuals persist in Taiwan, and discussions surrounding transgender issues have become highly contentious. This pioneering study, conducted by a dedicated Taiwanese transgender activist, presents the first-ever trauma narrative of Taiwanese transgender individuals, as well as indicates microaggression against transgender people in Taiwan. This study provides a crucial foundation for Taiwanese society to grasp the authentic experiences of transgender individuals before engaging in discussions on transgender issues.

Methods: Utilizing narrative inquiry and semi-structured in-depth interviews, the study explores the life experiences of 14 Taiwanese transgender adults, including 4 transgender women, 6 transgender men, and 4 non-binary individuals. The interviews focused on the experiences of discrimination due to transgender identity, the subsequent trauma incurred, and resilience in coping with discriminatory trauma. The interviews lasted about 2.5 to 3 hours each. Analysis was conducted using narrative inquiry and thematic analysis methods, incorporating queer theory, feminist theory, and the researcher's field experiences in Taiwan's local transgender movement.

Results: The study revealed diverse forms of discrimination and microaggressions, such as gender-based violence, misgendering, ontologizing gender, transnormativity, invalidation of gender diverse concepts, invalidation of trauma, stigmatizing transgender women as sex offenders, and stigmatizing transgender identity. This resulted in trauma, including low self-esteem, social barriers, high defensiveness, mental illnesses, distrust in people, lack of futurity, physical damage, and the concealment of transgender identity. Resilience strategies included transgender community connectedness, rebelliousness, confrontation, pride, informal support systems, cultivating spirituality, participating in transgender activism, and the presence of transgender-friendly regulations in hospitals, schools, and workplaces.

Conclusions and Implications: The discussion and recommendations of this study include two main sections, transgender-related policies and transgender community in Taiwan. At the policy level, the study focuses on the most contentious issue in Taiwan currently, which is gender marker change legislation. Additionally, the study also discusses regional resource disparities, the significance of gender markers on official documents, transgender reproductive rights, transgender medical subsidies, and provides suggestions for healthcare personnel training and transgender-friendly policies in schools. At the level of the transgender community, this study offers new recommendations for LGBTQ+ NGOs in providing support for transgender individuals, and discusses advocacy strategies within the current transgender movement in Taiwan. This study suggests that future research focus more on the impact of transnormativity and the multifaceted challenges faced by Taiwan within the post-Cold War geopolitical context.