Transgender experiences and transphobia in higher education

While categories like “campus climate” highlight variation across institutions, trans people's experiences also vary within an institutional context. By studying trans people's experiences in higher education, however, we can better understand and respond to the differentiated and changing needs of transgender people in other arenas. In this paper, I review key qualitative and quantitative findings along several themes: (a) disclosing trans identities, (b) trans communities, and (c) resources and career‐level support. Specifically, I use the concept of microclimates to explain how trans people encounter various forms of support and discrimination on campus. For example, someone might receive support from particular individuals, such as an advisor, or spaces, like a gender studies classroom, but not others. Researchers also report both similarities and differences between binary and nonbinary trans people, as well as between transgender men and transgender women, suggesting that there is no universal trans experience, nor a one‐size‐fits‐all approach to supporting trans students and faculty members. Challenging interpersonal and systemic transphobia requires context‐specific interventions.     

Transnormativity: A New Concept and Its Validation through Documentary Film About Transgender Men

While prior research has called attention to how medically based, normative understandings of sex and gender place undue restrictions on transgender people's autonomy, there has yet to be an attempt to consolidate this research into a recognizable concept that is situated within existing theoretical frameworks. This article uses documentary films focused on transgender men as an empirical example to develop the concept of transnormativity. Transnormativity describes the specific framework to which transgender people's presentations and experiences of gender are held accountable. Drawing on research specific to transgender community groups, medicalization, and legal transition, I argue that transnormativity structures transgender experience, identification, and narratives into a hierarchy of legitimacy that is dependent upon medical standards. This ideology, as I show via a content analysis of documentary films, circulates in media depictions of transgender people in ways that eclipse alternative explanations of gender non‐conformity. While medical transition is a central component of many transgender people's gender trajectory, I argue in this article that the privileging of the medical model over others creates a marginalizing effect for gender‐non‐conforming people who cannot or do not wish to medically transition.     

Transgender student experiences in single‐sex colleges

This article reviews popular and scholarly literature on transgender students' experiences who are enrolled in single‐sex colleges. Because such colleges rely on bounded conceptions of sex/gender to determine who can and cannot be eligible for admission, the enrollment and matriculation of transgender students pose a challenge to the central organizing logic of the single‐sex environment. As such, I first draw upon theorizations of gendered and queer organizations to highlight the utility of sociology in analyzing the transing of organizations through transgender inclusion. Using this framework, I then address trans student experiences at the time of admission and during matriculation at single‐sex colleges. These perspectives frame transgender inclusion as a new organizational form but one that is rooted in the social construction of transnormativity rather than institutional transformation.     

Where The Trans Men and Enbies At?: Cissexism,Sexual Threat,and the Study of Sex Work

In this article, I examine the existing research on transgender sex workers and explore how cissexism and sexism overlap and shape this work. Overall, researchers assume that all trans sex workers are women, and all male sex workers are assumed to be cisgender. Transmasculine and other gender non‐conforming sex workers are absent from studies of sex work. Researchers in public health and criminology dominate the literature and this research is limited because it focuses only on trans women and because it focuses primarily on disease and trauma, and almost exclusively on HIV. The literature I examined treats transgender women as a public health “problem” to be solved, rather than addressing their experiences and needs as workers and as people in our society. I argue that in order to have useful applied and policy implications aimed at harm reduction, researchers must use a sociological lens to document what structural conditions push and pull people of various genders into sex markets in the first place. Finally, I advocate for the use of queer, intersectional, and transnational frameworks in future lines of inquiries as a way to push the sociological and public health literature on sex work forward in a way that will benefit all sex workers, their advocates, and service providers.     

The Lived Experiences of Transgender Persons: A Meta-Synthesis

This article synthesises findings from qualitative studies which have explored the lived experiences of transgender persons, using Noblit and Hare's (1998) meta-ethnography method. Thirty-one qualitative studies related to the lived experiences of transgender individuals, published between 1998 and 2013, met the inclusion criteria. A literature search was conducted between November 2012 and September 2013 using computerized searches from nine databases as well as online manual searches of key journals. Results from these individual studies revealed five major themes: (a) crossing gender and physical problems in life, (b) experiencing psychological distress, (c) encountering discrimination and social exclusion, (d) having relationships does matter, and (e) dealing with difficulties in life. Yet, despite these negative experiences, transgender people have tried to find ways to help them deal with their difficulties. We conclude that there is a need for health care providers, social workers, and health promoters to support transgender individuals, for their health and well-being. This meta-synthesis provides a clear account of what transgender individuals experience in their lives, to support the development of sympathetic health and social care services to assist them with their difficulties, and enhance their health and well-being.     

“Women's Work”? Women Partners of Transgender Men Doing Housework and Emotion Work

Despite increasing family studies research on same‐sex cohabiters and families, the literature is virtually devoid of transgender and transsexual families. To bridge this gap, I present qualitative research narratives on household labor and emotion work from 50 women partners of transgender and transsexual men. Contrary to much literature on “same‐sex” couples, the division of household labor and emotion work within these contemporary families cannot simply be described as egalitarian. Further, although the forms of emotion work and “gender strategies,”“family myths,” and “accounts” with which women partners of trans men engage resonate with those from women in (non‐trans) heterosexual and lesbian couples, they are also distinct, highlighting tensions among personal agency, politics, and structural inequalities in family life.     

“Welcome! Oh,wait…” Transgender Military Service in a Time of Uncertainty

In 2014, the Department of Defense began a broad review of transgender military service. Following this review, in 2016, the Obama Administration announced a policy of transgender inclusion in the military. However, in 2017, before enactment of that policy, President Trump announced the reinstatement of a ban on transgender military service. Although, in the last five years, these events have garnered much media attention, sociologists have generally left them unexplored. In this article, I begin the process of incorporating transgender military experience into sociological discussions by examining how transgender service members navigate their uncertain status vis-à-vis military service. In so doing, I explore how transgender personnel might be “doing transgender” (Connell, Gender & Society24(1):31) in the context of shifting norms about who can and cannot officially exist within the ranks of the military as well as possibilities for future research examining transgender military experience more broadly.     

The Importance of Being Agnes

Harold Garfinkel's 1950s case study of “Agnes” is broadly understood as the locus classicus of sociological research about transgender people. Drawing on an analysis of unpublished archival materials from Garfinkel and Robert J. Stoller, the lead psychiatrist on Agnes's case, I locate Agnes' experiences at UCLA within a larger history of theorizing about gender and sexuality within the social sciences, and within the emerging field of transgender studies.     

Displaying Gender: Transgender People's Strategies in Everyday Life

Drawing upon data from in‐depth interviews with transgender people in Portugal and in the United Kingdom, this article critically reflects upon different ways through which transgender people recreate their gender displays, particularly in terms of gender embodiment and aesthetics, in order to navigate their everyday lives. I focus on four strategies of articulating gender displays with one's own gender subjectivities: “blending in,” “masking,” “naturalizing,” and “subverting.” These strategies are not exclusive of one another. They are used differently throughout the participants' own lives in accordance to the social contexts they were in.     

Transgender and Transsexual Studies: Sociology's Influence and Future Steps

This article provides a general sense of transgender studies in sociology. It does so by looking at the definitions and relationship between the terms transgender and transsexual, the history of transsexual studies, sociology's place in this development, and the active production (by trans people) of transsexual and transgender studies. This review primarily focuses on US sociological writing, including ethnomethodology, labeling, feminist, and symbolic interactionist frameworks, while incorporating critical theory, queer theory, and other interdisciplinary influences. The article explores various movements in the recent history of this scholarship: for instance, while transsexual studies were mostly developed with a male-to-female transsexual perspective, recent scholarship place female-to-male transsexual and transgender identity centrally. I present current trends and future steps of sociological inquiry in the area of transgender studies as a way of closing the discussion of sociology's potential contributions in the near future.     

Hidden in the Margins: A Qualitative Examination of What Professionals in the Domestic Violence Field Know About Transgender Domestic Violence

This qualitative study endeavored to examine the views and experiences of individuals who work with, and those who consider issues related to, transgender domestic violence in an effort to determine what (if anything) is known about this construct. Using a phenomenological approach, ten interviews were conducted with individuals who professionally confront transgender intimate partner violence. Overall, the study found that many individuals from different disciplines were in agreement concerning the paucity of resources for this population, and future research would benefit from quantitative research to understand more about transgender domestic abuse. Furthermore, criminal justice organizations should take active steps within their own agencies to appropriately address this problem for transgender victims of abuse. Finally, all of the participants stated their beliefs that transgender domestic abuse is a very serious problem and believed that more research should be done to better understand it before it can be addressed.     

The push for transgender inclusion: Exploring boundary spanning in the gay–straight alliance

Gay–straight alliance (or gender‐sexuality alliance; GSA) is a high‐school based club aimed at providing a safer environment for sexual and gender minority youth as well as their straight allies. Yet, as a club historically rooted in addressing sexual orientation‐related concerns, less attention has been given to understanding the changing relational dynamics of internal GSA activities aimed at expanding membership boundaries through the promotion of transgender inclusivity. I address this by bridging existing scholarship on GSAs, social movements, and the sociology of culture to showcase the impact boundary‐spanning strategies are having on GSA mobilization, in‐group solidarity, and external political and social activism. My findings reveal that membership boundary negotiations around gender diversity issues are shifting the social landscape of these clubs. Emerging barriers that impede boundary‐spanning efforts are also highlighted and discussed. More broadly, I generate new theoretical insights into how boundary spanning can shape political and social activism as well as offer promising future research directions in this area.     

Clinical and Supervisory Considerations for Transgender Therapists: Implications for Working with Clients

Transgender therapists have unique and valuable perspectives into how gender organizes the therapeutic process. Currently, in the MFT field, there is discussion of the cisgender therapist's experience in the therapy room, but no known articles on the transgender therapist's experience. This article provides insight into the experiences of transgender therapists around issues of self‐disclosure, social locations of both therapist and client, and clinical supervision. Drawing from our clinical experiences as transmen, we highlight special considerations for working with cisgender, queer, and transgender clients. Implications for supervision of transgender therapists are also discussed. As more gender diverse students seek MFT training, there is an urgent need to acknowledge their perspectives. This article is a call for beginning conversations in this direction.     

Do Workplace Gender Transitions Make Gender Trouble?

This article examines what happens when an employee makes the transition from one recognized gender category to another and remains in the same job. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with transmen and transwomen in Texas and California, we illustrate how a new social gender identity is interactionally achieved in these open workplace transitions. While transgender people often are represented as purposefully adopting hyper‐feminine or masculine gender identities post‐transition, we find that our respondents strive to craft alternative femininities and masculinities. However, regardless of their personal gender ideologies, their men and women co‐workers often enlist their transitioning colleague into gender rituals designed to repatriate them into a rigid gender binary. This enlistment limits the political possibilities of making gender trouble in the workplace, as transgender people have little leeway for resistance if they wish to maintain job security and friendly workplace relationships.     

Normative Accountability: How the Medical Model Influences Transgender Identities and Experiences

The medicalization of gender variance is a key force in transgender people's experiences of embodiment, identity, and community. While most directly dictating experiences of diagnosis and medical classification, it is important to acknowledge that the effects of medicalization are widespread across social contexts and institutions. I explore the medical model of transgender identity, with special attention to its current diagnostic classification, in order to highlight how transgender people's interactional experiences of gender are shaped by medical authority. I review literature that highlights the operation of the medical model as a normative accountability structure in its influence across multiple institutions of social life including health and healthcare, transgender community groups, and legal classification.     

Translating transgender: Using Western discourses to understand Samoan fa'afāfine

The analysis of gender as a socially constructed category is one of the foundations of the sociological project. The concept of transgender is of particular interest, in that it reveals that sex is not necessarily constitutive of gender. Gender nonconformity in non‐Western contexts particularly demonstrates that the ways in which sex, gender, and sexuality are conceptualised in Western discourses are open to challenge. However, academic research about non‐Western transgender identities and populations often ultimately replicates specific heteronormative and/or Western ways of seeing the world. In this article, I discuss how Samoan fa'afāfine have been represented by various academic disciplines, using a sociological perspective to deconstruct discourses commonly used in this process, which include Orientalism, essentialism, and functionalism. I then outline research that allows for a more nuanced understanding of the lived experience of fa'afāfine, situating them within the broader Samoan cultural context and paying attention to how fa'afāfine themselves construct and maintain their identities. I conclude that this more holistic approach should be taken with all representations of non‐Western and Western nonheteronormative identities and populations.     

The Social Costs of Gender Nonconformity for Transgender Adults: Implications for Discrimination and Health

Research suggests that transgender people face high levels of discrimination in society, which may contribute to their disproportionate risk for poor health. However, little is known about whether gender nonconformity, as a visible marker of one's stigmatized status as a transgender individual, heightens trans people's experiences with discrimination and, in turn, their health. Using data from the largest survey of transgender adults in the United States, the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (N = 4,115), we examine the associations among gender nonconformity, transphobic discrimination, and health‐harming behaviors (i.e., attempted suicide, drug/alcohol abuse, and smoking). The results suggest that gender nonconforming trans people face more discrimination and, in turn, are more likely to engage in health‐harming behaviors than trans people who are gender conforming. Our findings highlight the important role of gender nonconformity in the social experiences and well‐being of transgender people.     

Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender Communities’ Readiness for Intimate Partner Violence Prevention

Efforts to address intimate partner violence (IPV) in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities often rely on identifying what service providers can do to better reach and serve these populations. However, assessing a community's readiness in response to the issue of IPV in LGBT communities locates the issue where outcry is most likely to occur. Utilizing the Community Readiness Model in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities in two rural and two urban communities, this study revealed a low level of community readiness to address IPV. Only vague awareness of IPV exists in these sexual orientation, gender identity, and geographic communities. The study suggests specific next steps tailored to raise LGBT communities’ readiness to address IPV from within their own communities, starting at the current low level.     

The relationship between medical education and trans health disparities: a call to research

According to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 28% of trans respondents reported postponing medical care due to discrimination, and 28% reported being harassed by providers when they did seek out care. Scholars have proposed that what is taught (or not) in medical schools might play a role in the unequal health care experienced by many trans people. As medical education becomes a site of intervention for reducing transgender health disparities, it presents opportunities for sociologists to study and explain the processes by which medical training creates, reinforces, and potentially challenges stigma‐related health disparities. In this paper, we propose three areas of inquiry that might help explain this situation: the hidden curriculum, patient health movements and consumerism, and medical competency. By employing these concepts, we argue that sociologists can develop more comprehensive explanations for the relationship between medical education and transgender health inequalities and offer solutions to address this disparity.     

LEGITIMATING TRANSPHOBIA

Transgender persons are strangers to the law; or put more accurately, the legal imagination is so deeply entrenched in normative gender binarism as to effectively render transsexuals a ‘freakish’ anomaly to law. This essay attempts to offer a reflection on transgenderism, law and sexual crime from a human rights and criminal law perspective. It focuses on one of the most violent types of institution in society – the prison – and asks: what are the legal imagination and practice surrounding transgender prisoners as they are linked to social and cultural transphobia? What ‘human’ rights can be practiced for a dehumanized class? It first surveys the legal predicament of transgender prisoners in the US prison system in relation to Eighth Amendment rights provided by the US Constitution. The US situation has seen cases that have importantly shed light on other jurisdictions when engaging with the combined questions of prisoners’ rights and transgender rights together. The analysis is then taken to the context of Hong Kong prisons in a modest application. In contrast to some other Asian contexts (such as Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia), critical cultural studies of transgenderism are non-existent in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, human rights studies of the same have only emerged through the work of legal scholar Robyn Emerton. It is hoped that a rights-based approach will emerge in Hong Kong for the protection of transgender inmates from sexual violence in local correctional facilities.