30-03-2018
In the database, this interview can be found as: Audio_Interview_30-03-2018_Toby_FirstMeeting
Description: This conversation, that takes approximately 50 minutes, was not steered by a semi-structured interview per se. However, during the interview, the researcher did try to cover some relevant topics related to the project and related to Toby as a person. In the end, the majority of the time, the LGBT community and policies revolving around this community were discussed. This was clearly a common interest and was therefore used a discussion material to make sure the potential user and the researcher got closer.
Unfortunately, Toby, being a transgender young man, was undergoing his transition surgery one month later and had to cancel his participation due to this reason after this interview was conducted. Nevertheless, the conversation with Toby, as it was recorded, is analysed nonetheless to provide additional information to his case study.
Conversation Course: The conversation kicks off with the researcher giving an explanation on MyDayLight, what is is, what goal it serves and what it consists of. Furthermore, the researcher explains what his research objective is. While doing this, he explains his research questions to the user.
Subsequently, Toby discusses his role as experience expert and explains his interest in LGBT policies. The researcher, subsequently, discusses his own experience in LGBT policies, as he had been conducting a research into the stereotypes revolving around members of the trans collective. This then enrols in a discussion of the hobbies of Toby: singing, ice skating and costume events.
The next topic is discussed is the common experience for working for the McDonalds, where both the researcher and Toby have worked. They discuss the work atmosphere, career development and ethics regarding working for McDonalds. Regarding professional work, Toby also shares his negative experiences regarding working in a call centre, where he experienced difficulties in needing to be manipulative in order to increase sales.
After discussing work ethics, the conversation returns to LGBT issues, but this time Toby discusses his own LGBT history. It appears that he first identified as a lesbian woman, then as a pansexual woman and he then realized that he never felt like he was gay or pan, but always believed he was straight. He then presented himself to the world as a transgender man. Subsequently, he connects his own gender to sexual education in high schools. The researcher and Toby seemed to agree on a lot of issues regarding different treatments of gay and transgender people by some people. Toby also shares an intriguing story about his boyfriend, Jonathan, who is also a transgender boy. Toby explains how some people thought he contaminated his former girlfriend in becoming a transgender boy as well. Toby continued
with experiencing negative and stereotypical comments that he encountered following coming out as a transgender boy. He did this with a sense of humour, though.
The following topic discussed, again in relation to LGBT issues, was the discussion whether a gay man or a lesbian woman has the most privileges among all members of the LGBT collective. Both agree that gay men still experience the most violent behaviours, but women still face sexism, despite their sexual orientation or gender. Toby can especially share insightful experiences regarding this topic, as his transition went from a girl to a boy. Regarding the transition, Toby criticizes the commotion he witnesses in an online vocal sharing platform where people who are transgender – and have not yet changed their voices – and non-binary feel discriminated because their voice does not fit in the box of the gender they identify as. Furthermore, the controversial comment of football critic Renee van der Gijp regarding the outing of Belgian news reporter Beau van Spilbeeck as a transgender woman. It is discussed how far satire can go; what are the boundaries? Lastly, the relationship between transgenderism and gender neutrality are discussed.
Interesting Points: It is apparent that this conversation was not focussing on Toby as a being on the autism spectrum. However, reading the course of the conversation, it becomes quite quickly apparent what kind of character traits Toby has: he is opinionated yet nuanced, assertive, quasi-nonchalant and a clear sense of cynicism can be identified in the way Toby speaks of things. He is also reflective, smart, critical and he explores the sense of justice. He could also be described as realistic and sincere.
At this moment, Toby is undergoing some drastic changes in his life. This might have to do with the autism spectrum, as people on the autism spectrum have a larger percentage of LGBT-members among them as people not on the autism spectrum. Apparently, it is more common for someone with autism to have a less common gender or sexual identity.
Regarding Toby’s possible participation in this research, it becomes more apparent in the analysis of the next interview if he would be the right user to test it with - if he
experiences significant challenges in attention and organization. However, a practical matter excluding him from the research could be the fact that his current transition is becoming too distractive or even obstructive. However, there is still some time to figure this out. Good communication between Toby and the researcher is important for this matter.