Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Nov 8;23(1-2):243-254.
doi: 10.1080/26895269.2020.1838395. eCollection 2022.

My Autohistoria-Teoría (trans)formational experience: An autoethnographical case study of a transgender BIPOC teacher's experience with racial healing

Mario I Suárez  1
Affiliations

My Autohistoria-Teoría (trans)formational experience: An autoethnographical case study of a transgender BIPOC teacher's experience with racial healing

Mario I Suárez. Int J Transgend Health. .

Abstract

Background: Visibility of the transgender community has increased, particularly in the media. Trans teachers face a challenge, as their professional roles are both public and private. In an effort to seek personal and professional support, trans teachers have turned to social media outlets. Additionally, current research does not always encompass intersectional experiences of trans BIPOC teachers.

Aim: This paper presents an autohistoria-teoría, or autoethnographical case study account of the author's experience coming out in the workplace as a trans teacher in Texas.

Methods: Guided by Slavin et al. multicultural model of the stress process coupled with intersectionality, this paper attempts to describe how a trans teacher of color navigates the workplace. The data for this study are a collection of all of the author's social media posts from 2005 to 2015.

Results: Findings reveal that allies provided some support, and that this trans teacher used deflection as a coping strategy in posts.

Conclusion: The results suggest that administrative and peer support can impact transgender workers' mental well-being. In this paper, autohistoria-teoría is used as a powerful way for a trans BIPOC teacher's narrative to be told, which contributed to cultural healing.

Keywords: Autoethnography; BIPOC; gender diversity; leadership; social support; teacher well-being; transgender teacher.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Timeline of social media events.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Anzaldúa, G. (1999). Borderlands/La frontera: The new mestiza. (2nd ed.). Aunt Lute Books.
    1. Anzaldúa, G. E. (2015). Light in the dark/Luz en lo oscuro: Rewriting identity, spirituality, reality. Keating, A. (Ed.). Duke University Press.
    1. Ashlee, A. A., Zamora, B., & Karikari, S. N. (2017). We are woke: A collaborative critical autoethnography of three “womxn” of color graduate students in higher education. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 19(1), 89–104. 10.18251/ijme.v19i1.1259 - DOI
    1. Badgett, M. V., Lau, H., Sears, B., Ho, D. (2007). Bias in the workplace: Consistent evidence of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. UCLA School of Law. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5h3731xr
    1. Banks, J. A. (1993). Multicultural education: Historical development, dimensions, and practice. Review of Research in Education, 19, 3–49. 10.2307/1167339 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources