Trans Inclusion Research Articles

Exclusionary inclusion? Streaming platforms and trans inclusive policies and practices: A case study of Netflix

This article examines the incongruence within Netflix’s corporate practice: while on the one hand the streamer promotes trans inclusion along with trans talent development in Netflix’s production culture, both on and off screen, on the other hand its industrial practices and representational output demonstrate a different approach. This article argues that, while the streamer positions itself as a champion of inclusion and diversity in the television industry, Netflix is invested in transness as an economic frontier rather than in adopting anti-transphobic practices. In making this argument, this article fosters a three-pronged approach to explore the treatment of trans identities by Netflix. Firstly, the article analyses Netflix’s corporate practices in relation to promotion of its limited series, Tales of the City. Secondly, the article explores the media event of Dave Chappelle’s comedy special The Closer and the subsequent trans employee walkout. Thirdly, it performs on audit of Netflix’s website and corporate materials to highlight how Netflix has developed a response to trans inclusion in relation to the walkout. Exploring these facets through Aron Kundnani’s (2023) critique of the diversity industry, this article argues that, on a policy and corporate performativity level, Netflix’s approach to trans inclusion can be defined as transliberalist (Raha, 2015), so that its practices result in a platform catalogue that is simultaneously at best trans-affirming and at worst transphobic.

Nate Shalev Q&A: Trans inclusion and advocating for LGBTQ and Jewish people

Nate Shalev Q&A: Trans inclusion and advocating for LGBTQ and Jewish people

Nate Shalev Q+A: Trans inclusion and advocating for LGBTQ and Jewish people

When Nate Shalev navigated their previous jobs, they found themselves constantly having to train their supervisors and colleagues on trans inclusion. They decided to pivot — embracing the opportunity to launch a career based on advocacy. Now an inclusivity speaker and advisor at Revel Impact, they help organizations examine their biases and implement education and policies that make all members feel safe.

Nate Shalev Talks About Trans Inclusion and Advocating for LGBTQ and Jewish People in Our Communities

Nate Shalev Talks About Trans Inclusion and Advocating for LGBTQ and Jewish People in Our Communities

Getting beyond peeing and pronouns: living non-binary gender in higher education

ABSTRACT Non-binary people make up just over half the UK trans population and younger people are more likely to identify as non-binary than those over 35 . Despite this increasing recognition, non-binary identities and experiences continue to be widely misunderstood. Similarly, if university trans inclusion policies focus solely on models of binary or medical transition, they will not fully address the needs of non-binary students. In the context of an increased focus on the participation and success of marginalized social groups in higher education, and a social and political backlash against equality, diversity and inclusion work, questions of how non-binary students thrive in universities are pressing. Non-binary inclusion and experiences in higher education have received little dedicated attention. This article draws on data from the largest survey to date of non-binary students in the United Kingdom and begins to fill those gaps. We highlight the prominence in the survey of issues around ‘peeing’ and ‘pronouns’ in the lived experiences of non-binary students and demonstrate the detrimental impact of the lack of recognition on students’ learning and lives at university. We conclude universities must get beyond ‘peeing and pronouns’ to reimagine higher education as an accessible and inclusive space.

TERF and Anti-trans Initiatives in Russia: Is There a Connection?

Trans-exclusive radical feminism (TERF) was imported onto the Russian soil around 2013, when trans people became more visible and I introduced transfeminism in a number of blog posts, which later were compiled into the first Russian-language book on transfeminism (Kirey-Sitnikova, 2016). In 2016, a large survey of feminists (n = 1364) revealed that 10.2% respondents identified as TERF and 4.4% as transfeminists (Kirey-Sitnikova, 2018). The TERF movement was shown to consist of individuals with higher income and educational level living in big cities, lesbians, and those more involved in feminist activism. Knowing a trans person was not a predictor of trans inclusion, many feminists joined the TERF movement after meeting a trans person supporting patriarchal gender norms (Kirey-Sitnikova, 2016). The most vigorous debates between these groups occurred on the Russian blogging platform “LiveJournal” (LJ) and consisted largely of translations and interpretations of texts by US feminists (Ibid.). As I described elsewhere, self-colonisation in the form of indiscriminate borrowing of terms and concepts from the Anglosphere is a prominent characteristic of all Russian progressive gender movements (Kirey-Sitnikova, 2020). After 2016, I moved on to other topics and did not follow these debates. This small contribution is aimed as an update on TERF from that time till now.

O082 A Survey to explore the Knowledge and Education needs of Perinatal Health Professionals to support the Provision of Inclusive Care to Transgender people in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract Background International literature shows that transgender teens and young adults are more likely to report insomnia compared to cis-gendered individuals of the same age – often linked with discrimination or minority stress. Trans people often encounter health providers with limited knowledge of gender diversity. Objective to understand the education needs, knowledge, and attitudes of the perinatal health workforce in New Zealand when providing care for trans people. Methods Interviews with trans people who had engaged with perinatal services, informed the development of a workforce survey, alongside extensive consultation with Māori, health professionals and trans community groups. The survey was shared with perinatal care providers via their professional organisations and social media. It included questions about strategies utilised in their clinical practice towards trans inclusion, previous education opportunities and current needs, as well as attitudes towards gender diversity. Results Survey participants (n=476) reported using multiple strategies when providing inclusive practice for trans people. Gaps in knowledge to support inclusive practice were identified, along with support needs to ensure perinatal care providers are resourced to provide culturally safe and affirming care for trans people and whānau/families. Most respondents had not received education on gender-inclusive care but three quarters of them reported they would access this if available. Conclusions Survey results identified strategies for inclusive care as well as knowledge gaps, in relation to meeting trans people’s perinatal care needs. Findings led to recommendations for education, practice and policy which could readily apply to those supporting trans people to improve their sleep health.

Trans* inclusion and gender equality in sport and exercise – an (im)possible equation?

Heteronormativity and the idea of binary sex constrain sport and exercise as well as many gender equality measures that are implemented in sport and exercise contexts. This strongly affects trans people’s opportunities to participate. The purpose of the paper is to explore trans performativity in relation to gender equality efforts in sport and exercise. Through interviews with ten trans individuals, we untangle how trans is, in the words of Karen Barad, produced in and through agential intra-actions of multiple apparatuses of bodily production. Our diffractive analysis shows how meaning comes to matter in sport and exercise regarding what trans ‘is,’ who and how one can identify as ‘trans,’ and in what ways trans individuals experience inclusion and exclusion. The study demonstrates challenges with reconciling gender equality and trans inclusion in sport and exercise contexts given current conceptualizations of sport and exercise, gender equality, and trans.

At the Intersection of Equity and Innovation: Trans Inclusion in the City of Vancouver

In 2016, the Vancouver City Council passed the Supporting Trans* Equality and an Inclusive Vancouver policy, a motion that prompted the development of a strategy aimed at ensuring the safety and accessibility of municipal programs, services, and physical spaces for Two-Spirit, trans, and gender-diverse (TGD2S) users, including residents, City staff, and visitors. Binary gender is a taken-for-granted assumption of most urban forms and functions: It is encoded in all municipal data collection forms, building codes, signage, and communication strategies. At its root, then, addressing trans inclusion requires the municipal government to attend to and redesign the gendered models of service, programs, and space upon which the city is built. This article tells the story of the Supporting Trans* Equality and an Inclusive Vancouver policy and is driven by two goals. First, I document this policy as a contribution to the urban policy and planning literature, where attention to gender diversity is due. Second, using the trans inclusion strategy, I show how a municipal equity policy aimed at addressing the safety and inclusion of TGD2S people can have significant impacts beyond its immediate scope. To develop this idea, I consider how equity-driven innovation can substantially reshape institutional practices.

Regulatory Policy and Women’s Sports: The Nexus of Gender Verification, Title IX, and Trans Inclusion

Title IX specifies that “no person” shall be subjected to discrimination on the basis of sex. Yet, advocacy groups and state legislators have debated transgender girls’ and women’s right to participate in sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Such entities employ misguided research about testosterone’s role in sports, assert that transgender girls displace cisgender girls in sports, and weaponize gender verification against transgender girls. Title IX’s original intent catalyzes access for all young people in sports, regardless of gender identity. A review of the historical underpinnings of the regulatory policy driving Title IX’s implementation, leading up to the Biden administration’s current efforts to assess Title IX’s application to sports, underscores the path to the truest implementation of Title IX. The regulatory mechanisms establishing Title IX implementation compel maximization of sport opportunities for all girls and women, which includes trans girls and women.

“The spectators ask, is it a boy or a girl? What is it?”: Cultural cisgenderism and trans men's sporting experiences in Iran

In this article, we draw on cultural cisgenderism to analyse the sporting experiences of trans men in Iran. Utilising semi-structured interviews with twelve trans men in different stages of transition, we consider their experiences of women's sport environments, the extent to which cisnormativity is embedded into the culture, and whether their gender identities are accepted. We found that essentialist understandings of sex and gender are evident in sport environments, with gender presentation policed by others, and expectations this should align with ascribed biological sex. While some interviewees’ masculine expressions were valued, others were considered ‘too masculine’ to be eligible to participate in women's sport spaces; this led to restrictions around appearance and clothing, alongside instances of compulsory hormone testing. Finally, for those who were ‘out’ about their gender identity, this often led to hostility from others, including coaches, teammates, and spectators. Overall, this paper provides a critical understanding of trans inclusion in sport spaces in Iran. However, the findings may be useful for anyone working to make sport more accessible, regardless of geographical location.

Against Trans Inclusion in the Military: A Trans Of Color Abolitionist Critique

Abstract: Over the last few years, trans inclusion in the military has become the focal point for much of trans activism in the US. Advocates seeking inclusion highlight how participation in the military is often a means of socioeconomic mobility and access to trans-friendly healthcare. Such advocacy hinges upon notions of “good citizenship,” which buttresses US exceptionalism, and concretizes the US empire vis-à-vis militarism. In this paper, we examine a popular documentary, TransMilitary (2018), released in the context of the US–led War on Terror. This documentary serves as a cultural artifact that showcases the deployment of trans service members to Iraq and Afghanistan as a form of inclusion advocacy. Against the backdrop of US imperialism in Asia and Oceania, we extend Asian/American and Pacific Islander feminist analytics to bring into conversation a trans of color abolitionist praxis that centers demilitarization and abolition of the military. In conclusion, we formulate Asian and Pacific Islander trans feminist abolitionist critiques of US trans militarism. A trans abolitionist framework unsettles ideas of liberal inclusion and, instead, centers abolishment of the military for collective trans liberation.

‘Go home to the second wave!’: Discourses of trans inclusion and exclusion in a queer women’s online community

As the visibility of trans movements has increased in recent years, so too has the antagonism between trans rights supporters and some sections of the feminist and lesbian communities (Phipps, 2016; Hines, 2017, Pearce et al., 2020). This antagonism is especially pronounced in digital spaces, where online discussions have fuelled an increasing polarisation of the debate (Hines, 2017). This paper examines the representation of trans identities on Autostraddle: a popular entertainment, news and lifestyle website for lesbian and bisexual women. It focuses on the longest and most controversial comment thread in the 2-million-word Queer Women’s Advice Corpus. The thread is a response to a guide to dating trans women for cis women. Using a combination of critical discourse analysis, sociocultural linguistics and corpus linguistics, I unpack the argumentation strategies (Fairclough and Fairclough, 2012) that commenters use to construct stances on the inclusion of trans women in the queer women’s online space. The major strategies include persuasive definitions of lesbian, imaginaries about trans women’s hypothetical bodies and the illegitimation of trans-exclusionary commenters as bad feminists and community outsiders. I find that that trans inclusion is successfully negotiated on a community level, but that trans women are still problematised on an intimate level due to their (imagined) genitalia. Trans women are ‘hyperembodied’ in the data, with the presence or absence of a penis acting as the focal point for inclusion and desirability.

“Protect the women!” Trans‐exclusionary feminist issue framing and support for transgender rights

AbstractAn increasingly salient policy innovation pursued by LGBT+ rights groups and socially liberal policy entrepreneurs is the right of trans people to bring their legally recorded sex in line with their lived gender by way of self‐identification. In response to these moves toward trans inclusion, a unique coalition of trans‐exclusionary (gender critical) feminists and traditionalist conservatives has emerged to challenge these reforms. This coalition of policy opponents, mirroring historical issue frames that present homosexuals as predatory sexual deviants, campaign on a salient issue frame that presents transgender individuals and the expansion of trans rights as an inimical threat to the security, safety, and welfare of (cisgender) women, particularly in single‐sex spaces. In this paper, we address two questions. First, we ask: do trans‐exclusionary “protect women” issue frames over the alleged threat of trans persons to (cis) women shape mass public opinion? Second, we ask: in a relatively LGBT+ friendly policy environment, who supports the right to self‐identification for trans individuals? We answer these questions via an original pre‐registered survey experiment embedded within the 2021 Scottish Election Study. We find that trans‐exclusionary issue frames appealing to (cis) women's safety significantly depress support for trans rights, particularly among women respondents. Highlighting these concerns is an effective means of increasing already robust opposition to reforms designed to improve the welfare of transgender individuals, which should be of concern for proponents of self‐identification policies.

“Stepping Up” for Trans Inclusion in Sport

“Stepping Up” for Trans Inclusion in Sport

“We Just Think of Her as One of the Girls”: Applying a Trans Inclusion Staged Model to the Experiences of Trans Children and Youth in UK Primary and Secondary Schools

Background/Context: Throughout the past decade increasing numbers of trans children are being supported in childhood, with schools in countries across the world tasked with educating a generation of (known) trans pupils. Schools can adopt diverse approaches to inclusion or exclusion of trans pupils, with consequences for trans children’s well-being and safety at school. The literature includes extensive critique of the limitations of common approaches to trans inclusion, highlighting negative impacts on trans pupils. Purpose: This article aims to reframe and bring nuance to conversations on trans inclusion in education, drawing on primary research in the UK to make explicit different approaches to trans inclusion, their ideological underpinnings, and their implications for how trans children are welcomed in our schools. Setting: The research took place in the UK, with interviews conducted at a time of escalation of anti-trans discourse in UK courts and media. Population: This article draws on data from two qualitative research projects focusing on the experiences of trans and nonbinary children and their parents in the UK: one focusing on trans children aged 3–12 years, and the other on trans young people aged 12–18 years. Research Design: Semi-structured interviews explored trans children’s experiences in education in the UK, with a focus on trans-inclusive approaches to school culture, restrooms, and team sports. Data were analyzed against the trans inclusion staged model (TISM), a framework for distinguishing between different approaches to trans inclusion. Findings: Within the TISM we differentiate between trans-oppressive, trans-assimilationist, trans-accommodative, and trans-emancipatory approaches to educational inclusion. Interviews highlighted the harms and injustices in nonemancipatory approaches, revealing the role of cis supremacy in forcing trans pupils into positions of vulnerability. Conclusion/Recommendations: The TISM emphasizes the structural and systemic nature of trans oppression, illuminating the power imbalances embedded in nonemancipatory approaches, and acknowledging the need for fundamental reform. We recommend analysis and recognition of school practices that are trans-oppressive, trans-assimilationist, trans-accommodative, or trans-emancipatory. We call for increased recognition of cis supremacy within education and commitment to emancipatory approaches to trans inclusion, enabling progress toward equity and gender justice in our schools.

“We Have No ‘Visibly’ Trans Students in Our School”: Educators’ Perspectives on Transgender-Affirmative Policies in Schools

Background/Context:In Ontario, and Canada more broadly, anti-discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression is enshrined in the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which have required schools to address trans inclusion. However, the ways in which educators understand or enact these policies, and whether they are even aware of them, remain largely underexplored.Purpose/Research Question/Focus of Study:Our purpose was to learn more about educators’ awareness and understanding of trans-inclusive policies in schools and the extent to which such policies were informing practice.Participants:While this research is based on survey data comprising 1,194 respondents, this article examines comments provided about trans-affirmative policy from 463 educators.Research Design:This study involves large-scale survey research conducted on 1,194 educators in Ontario K–12 schools; the survey was disseminated via social media and educational affiliates. We draw primarily on the qualitative data component of the survey, where educators provided detailed comments about and insights into trans-inclusive policies. We employed a reflexive approach to coding and thematic analysis to identify key themes.Findings/Results:Although our quantitative data depicted a favorable assessment of support for trans-affirmative policies—94% of respondents found their school’s policy to be very or somewhat relevant—our findings highlight a discrepancy between policy and practice, and a lack of commitment to addressing cisgenderist, cisnormative, and cissexist systems. The themes that emerged from our coding and analysis of the qualitative data were: (1) educators’ understanding of policy as accommodation; (2) individualized approaches to trans inclusion; (3) lack of administrative support and intervention; (4) the gap between policy and practice; (5) transphobic and cissexist resistance to supporting gender diversity; (6) the need for trans-affirming and gender-expansive curriculum, and (7) the problem of generalized approaches to equity and acceptance of diversity. In addition, we discuss several educator comments that raise important questions about race and the need for intersectional approaches to addressing equity and trans inclusion in schools.Conclusions/Recommendations:We advocate for a paradigm shift with respect to the necessity of employing a trans epistemological framework that addresses the need for gender-expansive education which focuses on the harmful effects of cisgenderism, cisnormativity, and cissexism in the education system. Central to addressing gender justice and trans marginalization in schools for all students, we conclude, is the need for policy makers to ensure accountability and budgetary allocation for the provision of resources and professional development for educators in schools.

Why the Trans Inclusion Problem cannot be Solved

What is a woman? The definition of this central concept of feminism has lately become especially controversial and politically charged. “Ameliorative Inquirists” have rolled up their sleeves to reengineer our ordinary concept of womanhood, with a goal of including in the definition all and only those who identify as women, both “cis” and “trans.” This has proven to be a formidable challenge. Every proposal so far has failed to draw the boundaries of womanhood in a way acceptable to the Ameliorative Inquirists, since not all those who identify as women count as women on these proposals, and some who count as women on these proposals don’t identify as women. This is the Trans Inclusion Problem. Is there any solution? Can there be? Recently, Katharine Jenkins, pointing to the work of Mari Mikkola, suggests that the Trans Inclusion Problem can be “deflated” rather than solved. We will investigate this proposal, and show that, unfortunately, Jenkins is mistaken: Mikkola’s project will not help us answer the Trans Inclusion Problem. After that, we’ll look at Robin Dembroff’s suggestion that we “imitate” the linguistic practices of trans inclusive and queer communities, and we will evaluate whether this would help us solve the Trans Inclusion Problem. Unfortunately, this strategy also fails to solve the problem. By the end, we’ll have a better appreciation of the challenges faced by Ameliorative Inquirists in their project of redefining “woman,” and clearer view of why the Trans Inclusion Problem cannot, in fact, be solved. That’s primarily because, no matter what it means to be a woman, it’s one thing to be a woman, and another thing to identify as a woman.

Gender minority stress in education: Protecting trans children’s mental health in UK schools

Background: Trans children are known to experience challenges in education, in schools under-prepared for trans inclusion. Research on trans people’s mental health has shown an association between experiences of Gender Minority Stress (GMS) and poor mental health, though the GMS framework has not been applied to trans children’s experiences in education. Aims: This article examines trans children’s experiences of GMS in primary and early secondary education (ages 3–13 years old) in UK schools. The study aimed to uncover opportunities for protective action to safeguard trans children’s mental health. Methods: The GMS framework was applied to a rich qualitative dataset drawn from semi-structured interviews with 10 trans children and 30 parents of trans children average age 11 years-old (range 6–16). Data were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis. Results: The research highlighted the diverse ways in which GMS manifests in primary and secondary education. Trans children in the UK experienced a wide range of trans-specific stressors, putting children under chronic strain. Discussion: Schools need to recognize the range of potential stresses experienced by trans pupils in education. Poor mental health in trans children and adolescents is avoidable, and schools have a duty of care to ensure trans pupils are physically and emotionally safe and welcome at school. Preventative early action to reduce GMS is needed to protect trans children, safeguarding the mental health of vulnerable pupils.

Transforming Feminist Racist Structures

Transforming Feminist Racist Structures Mary E. Hunt (bio) Judith Plaskow’s characteristically candid, courageous, self-critical, and honest assessment of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion (JFSR) continues an important conversation that will endure long beyond current participants. As a white, Christian, cis, lesbian US citizen, I embody many of the problematic dynamics at hand. I am increasingly aware of the hegemonic forms of oppression from which I benefit and which I perpetuate. I was on the fiduciary board of Feminist Studies in Religion, Inc. (FSR, Inc.) for decades and have been on the editorial board of JFSR since its inception. I have been involved in conferences and roundtables, planning and hiring over the years. Good intentions proved insufficient to surmount systemic racism, Christocentrism, xenophobia, transphobia, and more. I cofounded and codirect the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER), an organization of the same vintage and similar in some respects though quite different in others to JFSR. Thus, I stand doubly involved, hence doubly responsible for the multiple failings of these groups to be structured and to operate as equitable fora for feminists in religion. I regret that and apologize for my mistakes. Regrets are for dinner parties, a wise friend once counseled. The issues at hand are not finally personal, though relationships are key. But even those can get in the way if we rely too heavily on a small circle of friends. Rather, efforts need to focus on structural and systemic matters in addition to personal failings. The task moving forward is to avoid repeating mistakes as projects and organizations are restructured or newly created in ways that are adequate to the needs of the day and reflective of what we have learned. That we missed the mark is no excuse to persist in error. But figuring out how to proceed from the morasses we have developed is not simple. One obvious way forward, taking up Judith’s challenge to “move beyond multiple voices in a room to finding ways to give them the same weight and power,” [End Page 39] would be to dissolve current projects and begin anew (13). While attractive, it would be wasteful to destroy what we have created. It would dishonor the best intentions of those involved to simply close doors, dismantle databases, and let new colleagues start from scratch. Rather, it makes strategic and ecological sense to transform groups like FSR through the painful process of accountability and change and at the same time to support and follow the lead of those who have previously been marginalized. The field of feminist studies in religion today has strong groups led by women of color that did not exist when FSR was created. The Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership in Richmond, VA, is a vibrant locus of scholarship, pastoral practice, the arts, and more where Black women shape the agenda. Their 2021 conference eclipsed anything I have seen in the field with its technologically sophisticated, multivalent approach to womanist work. Their program offerings are cutting edge and attractive to a broad audience. There is much to learn from them about the nexus of scholarship and practice. The Pacific, Asian, and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry (PANAAWTM) recently incorporated as a nonprofit, signaling its seriousness about the future. They offer substantive online courses and workshops. They prioritize mentoring the next generation and building intentionally on the knowledge production of the community. They model ways to do feminist studies in religion that can transfer to other groups. One way to transform historically predominantly white women’s groups is by changing the composition of the leadership and activists. A concomitant way is for such groups to support concretely the work of colleagues of color. The Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South, another group similar to WATER in age, focus, and composition, recently made that explicit in their fundraising. They urged their donors to give as well to groups run by women of color, a strategy other groups can adopt. FSR needs to attend to international and trans inclusion as well as racial and religious issues. What began as US-based work is increasingly global. Yet...