Caught between the binary : Exploring dominant representations of detransitioned people across digital platforms and publications

A contested term, detransition broadly refers to the process of undergoing a gender transition - via medical, legal or social means- before reverting to the assigned gender at birth. Digital discourse has increasingly played a role in shaping polarised narratives surrounding detransition, creating platforms used by detransitioners to evidence claims about gender identity, informed consent, and human rights. The impact of these discussions is not confined to the digital sphere: detransition has already influenced controversial legislative decisions surrounding transgender healthcare, notably Bell v Tavistock in 2020, and the 2022 Florida Board of Medicine ruling against youth transition.

Existing detransition literature has, however, prioritised detransition as an individual process, rather than a sociocultural phenomenon. Hence, this project will explore the role of digital spaces- both formal publications and informal social media platforms- in constructing narratives of detransition. The research aims to answer: How is detransition constructed in online discourse? And, How can these prevailing narratives be situated in a broader sociocultural context? Data will include news publications. Articles will be purposively sampled from periods surrounding both Bell v Tavistock and the Florida Medical Board Ruling to provide a comparative timeframe; as well as, TikTok videos and Twitter debates using strategic sampling to identify the most 'liked' content. Analysis will initially code data using the concepts of risk and need, with an 'open-coding' method used to refine these as research progresses. Hildebrand-Chupp's (2020) and Exposito-Campos' (2021) typologies of detransition will be used as a conceptual basis combined with a realist approach to thematic analysis to ensure focus on the underlying contextual factors behind representations of detransition.