Interviewees were recruited through either an explanatory leaflet or an explanatory email1. These went to young people who had attended the youth
group; they did not specify the age of interviewees. It explained that I wanted to interview trans, genderqueer or gender questioning young people, with the intention of giving professionals, parents and young people a better understanding of their lives and identities from their own perspective. When young people contacted me I emailed them an explanatory letter and consent form. The explanatory letter explained that the interviews were confidential, and asked them to contact me if they were interested. I also sent or gave them a disposable camera and a letter encouraging them to take photos, write or draw something about themselves. Finally at the start of each interview, before the participant signed the consent form, I again explained my research and the intended outcomes. I reiterated their lack of obligation to continue with the interview or to answer any questions they didn’t want to answer. I asked for consent to tape the interviews, to which all interviewees agreed. At each point, as well as giving information, I offered the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the process.
Interviews
I carried out interviews with eleven young people who had attended 4D. I interviewed nine of these young people in one-to-one interviews, and I interviewed two young people, Nathan and Tyler who were a couple, together. I
conducted my first interview in July 2009. I carried out the other interviews between December 2010 and February 2011. Individual interviews took between 50 minutes and 1 hour and 42 minutes. Nathan and Tyler’s interview took 2 hours and 26 minutes. All interviews took place in private spaces. The first interview took place at Space East in a private office. Later interviews were mostly carried out at Goldsmiths, although I carried out two at the Design Space. The interviews all took place between 11.30am and 8pm, outside of youth group hours although sometimes before or after a youth group session. The young people would come to the youth group setting directly as it was familiar to them. I would offer them a drink before we started the interview. When I carried out interviews at Goldsmiths I met the young people at the train station and then took them to a café and offered them a drink and a snack before going to the interview room. I paid travel expenses for all the young people.
My first interview was in the office at Space East. This was a familiar place to the young person; it felt unintimidating and that we would not be interrupted. At Goldsmiths the interview room that I mostly used was a resources room. It was a small space used to store books and materials, it had two comfortable chairs. It was fairly intimate as an interview space as it was a small and the comfortable chairs were close to each other. It was a somewhat haphazard space and didn’t feel intimidating. It felt private and that interruptions were unlikely. I interviewed two young people at the Design Space in the room used for the youth group sessions; this was outside the session time and felt private and that we would not be interrupted. The interviews felt relaxed and the young people seemed comfortable. Except for two, the interviews came to a natural conclusion when the participant and I had discussed their experiences and views sufficiently. Unfortunately I did not allow enough time for Kieran’s interview and it felt unfinished at the time. Nathan and Tyler’s interview was very long and we stopped because it felt too tiring to all of us. In these two cases we agreed to meet again, however, when I suggested arranging a further interview, they did not offer any possible dates and I did not pursue this. I do not know the reason for this, but my relationships with these young people
subsequently felt positive as if they had shared what they wished of their experiences.