‘Intruders’,‘transformers’ and ‘fallen soldiers’: Non-heterosexual boys,trans and non-binary students’ experiences in secondary education

Abstract

Despite increasing legal protections, LGBTQ+ students remain among the most vulnerable groups within educational settings, facing persistent discrimination, exclusion, and emotional distress. Using a youth-centred qualitative approach—combining Relief Maps and focus groups with 285 students— this article examines the lived experiences of non-heterosexual boys and trans and non-binary students in secondary schools in Catalonia. Specifically, I conceptualize students’ experiences not as isolated individual events, but through a relational perspective that situates them within a cisheteronormative institutional logic. The findings unpack how students navigate mechanisms of control, punishment, and reward related to gender and sexuality, through the lens of gender policing. These mechanisms are further analysed in relation to the specificities of different school spaces, highlighting the multidimensional nature of spaces and their differentiated impact on youth—not only through their architecture but also through the social dynamics they enable. By foregrounding youth voices and analysing how school institutions (re)produce hegemonic identity models, this research calls for a feminist ethic of care and shared responsibility to address school-based violence and promote inclusive educational practices.