Naizen

Naizen (meaning 'who I am' in Basque) is an association that brings together families of transsexual minors from the Basque provinces of Álava, Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa and Navarra. Its main objectives are to help, train and advise families of transsexual minors, to raise awareness of the reality of transsexual minors and their families, to disseminate their rights and demands, and to promote the depathologisation and acceptance of transexuality as just another aspect of diversity. To this end, it promotes training and information for professionals working with transsexual minors, advocates for legal reforms, and seeks to build a mutual support network among families. The association frequently appears in the media to share the reality of their homes, and has participated in various studies, promoting publications and materials to make transexuality in minors visible and normalised. Naizen was founded on 8 March 2015 as Chrysallis Euskal Herria, the Basque section of the Spanish association Chrysallis. In late 2018, it decided to become independent from Chrysallis, and on 26 January 2019 it presented its new name, Naizen, along with a new image, a spot and a website. The association is based in San Sebastián and operates across the Basque Country and Navarra.

Naizen was founded on 8 March 2015 as Chrysallis Euskal Herria, the Basque section of the Spanish association Chrysallis, by eight families from Álava, Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa and Navarra. The association began by organising mixed talks with sexology professionals and families sharing their experiences. It created an information and advisory service for families and started working with professionals from various fields: teachers, educators, psychologists, counsellors, etc. That same year, it set up an information and meeting point, initially only in San Sebastián, which from 2018 expanded to Bilbao and Pamplona on the first Tuesday of each month. In 2015, contacts and dialogue began with the Basque Government and later with the Government of Navarra to advance issues within their competences. One of the most serious and urgent problems was the treatment received in the two hospital units for transsexual people in both communities. Another important issue was the need to guarantee adequate approaches to accompany these realities in schools. In January 2017, thanks to an anonymous donation, they launched the campaign 'Hay niñas con pene y niños con vulva. Así de sencillo' ('There are girls with a penis and boys with a vulva. It's that simple'). For 7 days, Metro Bilbao stations and bus shelters in Bilbao, Vitoria, San Sebastián and Pamplona displayed posters with this slogan, achieving great dissemination both for the spread of the message and for the response it received from far-right groups. The association interpreted as a success the fact that many relevant institutions and political parties in Spain took positions and made public statements, bringing this reality to the forefront of news. In June 2017, the Navarrese Foral Law for the social equality of LGTBI+ people was published, in whose drafting they actively participated and which included many of their demands. One of them was the launch of the Transbide service for attention to transsexual people from a non-pathologising perspective, which started in October of that year. The 'Guide for the accompaniment and attention to transsexual people in Navarra' was also published, in whose preparation the association also participated. Regarding the 2012 Law of the Basque Government (pioneering in its day, but which the association considers obsolete), on 7 February 2018 they presented a proposal before the Basque Parliament for a new Transexuality Law. A week later, one of their youths, Ekai Lersundi, aged 16, committed suicide. His death highlighted the need to address, in addition to the family and school environment, the problems of transsexual adolescents (bodily changes of puberty, relationships with others, love...). After Lersundi's death, the association met with Basque health service officials and secured commitments to improve care in the Gender Unit of Cruces Hospital, although the highly questioned criterion of going through psychiatry to verify that the person is transsexual, stipulated by the 2012 Law, was not changed. At the end of 2018, they decided to cease being a territorial delegation of the state association Chrysallis, and on 26 January 2019, at the Teatro Principal in San Sebastián, they presented the new name of the Association 'Naizen', its new image, a spot and a website with information on child and adolescent transexuality. On 16 February 2019, Naizen organised a celebration in Ondarroa on the first anniversary of Ekai Lersundi's death. Throughout the day there were many performances and interventions, and with the collaboration of Euskal Telebista, the Spanish premiere of the TV series Butterfly, about the story of a transsexual minor, was held with a screening at the Bide Onera cinema in the town. In 2016, they published educational material to work specifically on understanding transexuality in the classroom. This material, pioneering in its field, achieved wide international dissemination, having been translated into several languages. It was later expanded with audiovisual material that allows knowing the lives of girls with a penis and boys with a vulva. That same year, the 'Comprehensive Care Guide for People in a Situation of Transexuality' of the Basque Government was published, which...

• Founded as Chrysallis Euskal Herria by eight families from Álava, Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa and Navarra.

• Started information and meeting point in San Sebastián.

• Began contacts with the Basque Government and later the Government of Navarra.

• Published pioneering educational material for classrooms on transexuality.

• Launched campaign 'Hay niñas con pene y niños con vulva. Así de sencillo'.

• Participated in drafting the Navarrese Foral Law for LGTBI+ social equality.

• Transbide service launched in Navarra, a demand of the association.

• Presented proposal for a new Transexuality Law before the Basque Parliament.

• Expanded information and meeting points to Bilbao and Pamplona.

• Decided to leave Chrysallis and become independent.

• Presented new name 'Naizen', new image, spot and website at Teatro Principal, San Sebastián.

• Organised celebration in Ondarroa for first anniversary of Ekai Lersundi's death, including Spanish premiere of TV series Butterfly.

Naizen positions itself as a mutual support and advocacy network for families of transsexual minors, promoting acceptance, depathologisation and legal reform in the Basque Country and Navarra.

• Educational material for classrooms on transexuality

  Pioneering material published in 2016, translated into several languages, later expanded with audiovisual material.

• Information and advisory service for families

  Service created to support families of transsexual minors.

• Guide for the accompaniment and attention to transsexual people in Navarra

  Published by the Government of Navarra with participation of the association.

1. 1Naizen | Asociación de Familias de Menores Transexualesnaizen.eus
2. 2Naizen - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Naizen - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia librees.wikipedia.org