"Did you just say I was lit ?" Transgender and non-binary youth doing gender; resisting cisnormativity in South African schools.

Using concepts of power and resistance, this article explores how cisnormativity is (re)produced in schools through everyday practices and how such practices are resisted. The research draws on ethnographic interviews with seven 16–18-year-old racially diverse school attending transgender and non-binary youth. In schools where cisnormativity is ubiquitous and unquestioned, the participant's identification as transgender or non-binary is itself a significant act of resistance against cisnormative power structures. The article argues that they are in charge of their gender identities, expression (and bodies) and are resistant actors as opposed to simply being targets of their peers and educational staff's cisgenderist narratives. The transgender and nonbinary youth recognize the prevailing cisgenderist scripts and, at the same time, assert a knowing script of who they are. As resilient agents, they talk back, sometimes even masking their defiance through hidden transcripts. The article concludes with implications for how schools can meet the needs of trans and gender diverse learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]