Meanings and Coping Strategies for Exclusion Among LGBTI+ Individuals: A Socio-Historical Analysis of Language and Resistance

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to understand the role of language both as a potential reproducer of prejudice and as a tool for re-signification and resistance to the systematic oppression of LGBTQIA+ individuals, analyzing this dynamic from the perspective of Socio-Historical Psychology. The research was carried out through a narrative theoretical review, which investigated academic works on language, resistance, and LGBTphobia, grounded in the framework of Socio-Historical Psychology—with special emphasis on the studies of Lev Vygotsky—and in Michel Foucault's reflections on the relationship between power and resistance. Additionally, the study included works that examine pajubá as a linguistic expression of cultural resistance within the trans-travesti population. The results indicate that, insofar as it reflects the values and experiences of the culture in which it was developed, language—when embedded in a cisheteronormative context—serves as a tool of oppression by perpetuating hegemonic ideologies of exclusion. On the other hand, by enabling the inscription of the experiences of marginalized groups into a distinct system of signs and representations, language fosters a collective sense of belonging and the reaffirmation of dissident identities, thus functioning as a tool of resistance. In this context, pajubá stands out as an example of subversion of the normative and oppressive order of language, supporting both resistance to exclusion and the creation of a collective space of belonging. It is concluded that recognizing this ambivalence of language is fundamental to developing more inclusive clinical, educational, and institutional practices that take into account the historicity of LGBTQIA+ experiences and their forms of resistance.