Trans and gender diverse young people’s experiences of menstruation in an Australian education context

The experiences of trans and gender diverse adults and adolescents remain marginalised in the literature on menstruation in school and post-school education. Drawing on nine qualitative in-depth interviews, this paper explores trans and gender diverse students’ perspectives and experiences of menstruation in an Australian school and post-school education context, including their engagement with informal information-seeking practices. Participants reported that menses and menstruation increased their gender dysphoria, and often sought to obtain menstrual suppression. Menstruation education was reported to be (for the most part) cisnormative and occurred across three main sites: school-based relationships and sex(ualities) education classes, online, and at home. Participants reported experiencing a range of menstruation-related disruptions to their education, and education institutions were often described as lacking sufficient support for menstruating students. Lack of access to appropriate toilet facilities presented a significant barrier for participants and sometimes resulted in interviewees using gender-segregated bathrooms incongruent with their gender or being forced to dispose of menstrual products at home. Using Persdotter’s conceptualisation of the ‘menstrunormate’, this paper argues that Australian education institutions must re-consider their menstruation-related curriculum and practice to ensure trans and gender diverse students receive equitable access to information, resources, and care.