Trans* Politics: Current Challenges and Contestations Regarding Bodies, Recognition, and Trans* Organising

Abstract

This thematic issue analyses trans* politics, and the problems and policies articulated by societal, political and legal actors in national and international contexts in Europe and Latin America. Trans* issues are at the heart of politics concerning sex and gender, because the sex binary ordering is producing the categories, identities, and related social relationships around which gender inequalities are constructed. Scholarship on trans* politics promises to bring more fundamental knowledge about how the gender binary organisation of our societies is (dis)functional, and is therefore relevant and beneficial for all gender and politics scholarship. Contestations around trans* issues continue developing, between state and non-state actors, transgender people and medical professionals, and also among and between social movements. This thematic issue is our contribution to dimensions of trans* politics that revolve around the issue of sexed and gendered bodies (the making and unmaking of “deviant” bodies, non-binary language about bodies, and voice given in bodily re/assignments), the limits of recognition (undermining of trans* agency, persistent binary thinking, and disconnect with material dimensions of gender justice), and the potential of trans* movements (processes and practices through which political claims are generated in the movement, a more forward looking and pro-active perspective on the possibility of alliances between the feminist and the trans* projects, and between the trans* project and the disability project, and alliances of movement actors with institutional power holders such as international courts).

Trans rights in the European Union – “sex” v. “gender” on the path towards equality and non-discrimination

“…If there is terminological confusion in the prescription of a certain law, strategy or principle, the needs of the gender-diverse populations it aims to benefit are brought into question. 42 It may put trans persons in a dehumanising position of disconnection with full personhood, as their experiences and identities are seen primarily as a pathology; they are a victim in need of help because their birth assigned sex does not correspond with their expressed gender. 43 Furthermore, not treating the two concepts differently in the legal landscape can leadas covered previouslyto hostility toward trans persons, and can limit their access to healthcare, social benefits, State sponsored provisions, limit their civil rights and curtail the protection of their fundamental rights.…”

Non-binary gender markers: Mobility, migration, and media reception in Europe and beyond

“…In recent years, attention to transgender rights has given rise to a number of international legislative and policy reforms to sex and gender registration. Academic scholarship has also begun to delve into the critical questions that these developments have provoked (Aboim, 2020; Cooper et al, 2020; Quinan and Bresser, 2020; Quinan et al, 2020; Van den Brink et al, 2015; Verloo and van der Vleuten, 2020). One significant aspect of such attempts to address gender diversity and equality has involved the re-evaluation of how binary sex or gender markers and other identity documentation practices disproportionately impact trans and non-binary people’s lives (Spade, 2011).…”