“A Space Where People Get It”: A Methodological Reflection of Arts-Informed Community-Based Participatory Research With Nonbinary Youth

Abstract

This article is a methodological reflection of Bye Bye Binary, a community-based participatory research project (CBPR) that explored nonbinary youths’ experiences of identity development, engagement in activism, discrimination, and mental health in Ontario, Canada. The arts-informed method of body mapping was employed in a workshop format to garner the experiences of 10 nonbinary youth (aged 16–25), in conjunction with additional qualitative methods (i.e., individual interviews and reflective notes). Findings suggest that the body-mapping workshop fostered a safe environment that promoted idea generation, affirmation, self-exploration, and connections through a shared identity, thus creating “a space where people get it.” Methodological challenges that arose throughout the process are discussed, including engagement in art as “awkward,” barriers of limited time and funding, participant recruitment, and collaboration and integration. Lastly, the authors reflect on their learnings engaging in CBPR and provide insights into how researchers can move forward and apply these methods and processes into their own work engaging in arts-informed research or with nonbinary individuals.

Engaging transgender women in HIV research in South Africa

“…CBPR has been successfully used with TGW in other settings. Furman et al [27] provide examples of how participatory research with transgender communities supported greater social change. Additionally, studies have successfully drawn from CBPR approaches to shift the role of transgender people from research subjects to that of active participants [28,29].…”

Exhaustion, Exhausting Temporalities, and Young Trans People’s Everyday Lives in the UK

“…Some participants' narratives were heard for the first time by another trans or queer person. Crucially, storytelling-focused methods gave participants opportunities "to turn the tables, to relate their story to others [and] celebrate and promote the history and experiences of their varied and constantly shifting community in their own words and images" (Valentine 2008(Valentine , 2016Furman et al 2019).…”

Out of the Binary: What Trans Adults With ‘Eating Disorders’ Want From Healthcare Professionals

“…(as cited in Maiter, 2008) CBPAR does not assume the needs of the community but rather allows the community to determine its own needs, approaches, and solutions by working with research participants (also known as co-researchers) at all stages of the research process (Kemmis et al, 2014). Many scholars view CBPAR as the superior method when conducting research with marginalized communities as it empowers marginalized communities to produce research based on the needs of the community (Furman, 2019;Tebbe & Budge, 2016).…”

“…Social media was chosen as a means of recruitment as many trans individuals rely on the internet for a sense of trans community (Furman et al, 2019). This is particularly true for trans individuals who may live in rural areas, or communities that do not have trans supports, or if trans folx experience high levels of transphobia in the physical world .…”