Processo Transexualizador: discurso, lutas e memórias - Hospital das Clínicas de São Paulo (1997-2013)

Abstract

The history of the different experiences of gender transformation in various historical moments and cultures is a challenge faced in this dissertation. The concept of transsexuality was built in the twentieth century, with transsexuals initially identified as “homosexuals discontented" with their own bodies. In the 1950s, the condition came to be seen as an identity category, being used by medical discourse. On the representations of the transsexuality, different discourses were constructed: the medical discourse, the common sense and the one of the trans militancy. It is the purpose of this research to question how these different discourses influenced the institutionalization of medical care to transsexuals in the country, specifically in Hospital das Clínicas de São Paulo. The work to achieve this goal was hard, the subject is academically understudied. We sought to trace the historical background in a dialogue with the bibliography, as well as to recover the legal aspects related to transsexuality in Brazil, through emblematic cases such as the transsexual Roberta Close and that of Dr. Roberto Farina, as well as reconstituting the legal struggle process (different bills) involving issues such as rectification of civil records and medical care for transsexuals. Seeking to give voice to the agents of these actions, we collected testimonies from transsexuals under care of the Program of the Hospital das Clínicas of São Paulo, as well as retrieved resolutions and ordinances from the Federal Medical Council and the Ministry of Health. The analysis of these experiences allowed to identify the influence of the different discourses, the difficulties faced, the construction of identities, and the struggles around the question