The closet: liberating or repressive device?

Abstract

The main goal of the present work is to take on account a part of the obtained results of a research project from the Facultad de Psicología of the Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Argentina. An aim by the aforementioned research has to do with recovering the historical narratives of trans people, both from their own voices and from the social environments through which they pass. That concerns the situations that occurred in childhood and adolescence within the family, school and health institutions. This article was based on the information gathered through in-depth interviews with
health workers, using the Ethnographic Method and a qualitative analysis that highlighted the importance of the so-called coming out of the closet for trans people due to the narratives produced by the children and adolescents who have passed through these health spaces. Based on authors like Judith Butler, Di Marco, Cabral, it is analyzed the transcendence of coming out of the closet -a practice that for a long time was only associated with the homosexual community- is analyzed; and the perspective offered by the narratives of the interviewed professionals allowed to highlight the particular characteristics of said practice. The life experiences of trans people with respect to coming out of the closet adopt particular characteristics, centered on the experience of one's own body, hormonalization, family, therapeutic listening and the legal normative framework; among others.