Chol Chokwinik youth: beyond the binary in indigenous schools of the municipality of Palenque, Chiapas

Abstract

The article aims to understand the tension between the normative structures of the sex-gender system and the construction and reaffirmation of identity among young ch’oles chokwinik in secondary schools  in the municipality of Palenque, Chiapas. From a qualitative methodology with an  ethnographic approach, the study was conducted in two telesecundarias and one technical secondary school through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and  focus groups with eight young  people from three  communities. The findings  reveal the school as a space for the reproduction of  heteronormativity through the  hidden curriculum, teacher  omission, and everyday  ractices of surveillance, which generate  experiences of discrimination  and isolation. Although the study is situated in a regional  context, its contribution lies in making visible dissident sex-gender identities within a Maya Ch’ol context, contributing to  the debate on the coloniality of gender and Indigenous  education, and highlighting the need for a critical intercultural education that recognizes sex-gender diversity.