Trans* and gender variant citizenship and the state in Norway

Abstract

The last decade has seen the expansion of trans* identities that are gender queer, non-binary, androgynous, or multiply-sexed and gendered in Western Europe. These developments mark a shift from a uniformly gender-binaried system to one that encompasses some degree of gender pluralism, as reflected to an extent in policy changes in some European countries. However, gender binarism is still prevalent. This article uses the case of Norway to demonstrate a contrast between the citizenship statuses afforded to transsexual men and women, and the lack of citizenship rights that people with non-binary identities, and other gender-variant people who are not diagnosed as transsexual, face. The article addresses the historical role of the Norwegian state in perpetuating gender binaries, in key areas such as identity recognition. It then explores the ways in which Norwegian social policy is changing towards more trans-sensitive positions.

Non-binary and genderqueer: An overview of the field

“…Practices of binarism continue, for example the social erasure of third and other sex pronouns such as 'ze' (Nicolazzo, 2016) and the existence of gender binaried toilets and uniforms within schools (Bragg, 2018). Monro and Van der Ros (2017) demonstrate the way in which state apparatus and the medical establishment can operate to perpetuate a socially marginal position for non-binary people. Gender binarism may be compounded by trans* iiinormativity -'the belief that there is only one way for trans* people to practice their gender… [it] suggests that all trans* people should transition from one socially knowable sex to another' (Nicolazzo, 2016(Nicolazzo, , pp.…”

Internalizing minority stress: Gender dysphoria, minority stress, and psychopathology in a norwegian transgender population.

“…Nonbinary identities have received greater recognition in the public consciousness and are recognized by both the British Psychological Society (BPS, 2014) and the American Psychological Association (APA, 2015). Nonbinary individuals are similarly marginalized to binary transgender individuals and face similar minority stressors (Monro & Van Der Ros, 2018; Rimes et al, 2019; Sue, 2010); and have also been included in the Hendricks and Testa (2012) adaption of the Minority Stress model for transgender people due to similar rates of anxiety and depression (Rimes et al, 2019). Furthermore, nonbinary individuals have shown to have high rates of gender dysphoria (Kuyper & Wijsen, 2014; Van Caenegem et al, 2015) and eating pathology (Diemer et al, 2018).…”

Transnormativity in the psy disciplines: Constructing pathology in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and Standards of Care.

“…For example, in an echo of the eugenic histories of transgender medicine, Norwegian health authorities were advised by the gender identity team to require irreversible sterilization as a condition for gender recognition in the late 1980s. Their explicit intention was “to avoid the potential calamity of a menstruating man, or even worse, a pregnant man, which would bring the hospital into disgrace” (Monro & Van Der Ros, 2018, p. 66).…”