In Latiné cultures, the important value of solidaridad, or solidarity, is grounded in the community’s creation of broad, interdependent social networks. These natural support systems transgress traditional nuclear familial structures found in Western societies, often sharing kinship practices with individuals and groups that engage with and contribute to the community meaningfully (Delgado & Humm-Delgado, 1982). Composed of interconnected subsystems with unique roles and responsibilities, Latiné social networks are heavily relied on as a source for essential aid and community resources, especially by their migrant population. Relevant migration-related information, including details on undocumented border-crossing processes, potential risks, and protective measures, typically follow informal routes of communication (e.g., word of mouth) and draw from personal experiences of other community members (Newell & Gomez, 2015). This inner-network transmission of ideas develops alternative approaches to immigration and facilitates resistance against traditional, or “lawful,” institutional agendas, ultimately producing a form of tactical technical communication.

The tactical technical communication theoretical framework describes a process in which people appropriate the systems, narratives, and designs established by industrial bodies to increase their own agency and shift the overall landscape of power (Kimball, 2006, p.69). It specifies that such institutions utilize rules and conventions known as “strategies” to control public behaviors, whereas “tactics” are methods individuals use to subvert these regulations and meet personal needs (Van Ittersum, 2014, p.236). As people communicate their personal tactics across larger networks, they generate greater power in their personal narratives and indulge in collective resistance.

Similarly, transgender and gender expansive (TGE) patients taking “do-it-yourself” (DIY) hormone replacement therapy (HRT) depend on various forms of tactical technical communication to effectively deliver and receive resources and guidance pertaining to their transition process. Community forums and widely disseminated materials, such as DIY HRT manuals, detail step-by-step instructions for safe self-administration as well as anecdotal observations regarding less formally documented side-effects experienced by other TGE folks. Using communicated tactics provides patients with the agency to dictate the means of their own transition and resist medical institutional strategies of control (Edenfield et al., 2019).

The intersection between these two communities offers TGE Latiné individuals a unique perspective, where achieving identity congruence through DIY HRT becomes a restorative act that pays tribute to both their transition and their cultural value of collective care.

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Delgado, M., & Humm-Delgado, D. (1982). Natural support systems: source of strength in Hispanic communities. Social Work, 27(1), 83–89. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23711768

Edenfield, A. C., Holmes, S., & Colton, J. S. (2019). Queering Tactical Technical Communication: DIY HRT. Technical Communication Quarterly, 28(3), 177–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2019.1607906

Kimball, M. A. (2006). Cars, Culture, and Tactical Technical Communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 15(1), 67–86. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15427625tcq1501_6

Newell, B., & Gomez, R. (2015). Informal networks, phones and Facebook: Information seeking and technology use by undocumented migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. In iConference 2015 Proceedings (Vol. 2015, pp. 1-11). (iConference 2015 Proceedings). iSchools. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/73434

Van Ittersum, D. (2014). Craft and Narrative in DIY Instructions. Technical Communication Quarterly, 23(3), 227–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2013.798466