Transgender Rights

by Paisley Currah (Editor), Richard M. Juang (Editor), Shannon Price Minter (Editor)

" Transgender Rights packs a surprising amount of information into a small space. Offering spare, tightly executed essays, this slim volume nonetheless succeeds in creating a spectacular, well-researched compendium of the transgender movement." -Law Library Journal

Over the past three decades, the transgender movement has gained visibility and achieved significant victories. Discrimination has been prohibited in several states, dozens of municipalities, and more than two hundred private companies, while hate crime laws in eight states have been amended to include gender identity. Yet prejudice and violence against transgender people remain all too common.

With analysis from legal and policy experts, activists and advocates, Transgender Rights assesses the movement’s achievements, challenges, and opportunities for future action. Examining crucial topics like family law, employment policies, public health, economics, and grassroots organizing, this groundbreaking book is an indispensable resource in the fight for the freedom and equality of those who cross gender boundaries. Moving beyond media representations to grapple with the real lives and issues of transgender people, Transgender Rights will launch a new moment for human rights activism in America.

Kylar W. Broadus, Judith Butler, Mauro Cabral, Dallas Denny, Taylor Flynn, Phyllis Randolph Frye, Julie A. Greenberg, Morgan Holmes, Bennett H. Klein, Jennifer L. Levi, Ruthann Robson, Nohemy Solórzano-Thompson, Dean Spade, Kendall Thomas, Paula Viturro, Willy Wilkinson.

Paisley Currah is associate professor of political science at Brooklyn College, executive director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center, and a founding board member of the Transgender Law and Policy Institute.

Richard M. Juang cochairs the advisory board of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) in Washington, DC. He has taught at Oberlin College and Susquehanna University. He is the lead editor of NCTE's Responding to Hate A Community Resource Manual and coeditor of Transgender Justice, which explores models of activism.

Shannon Price Minter is legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and a founding board member of the Transgender Law and Policy Institute.

Genres: Nonfiction, Queer, Transgender, LGBT, Gender, Theory, Gender Studies

400 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 2006

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

from the library c2006

Part l Law
part ll History
part lll Politics

from the library computer:
Introduction / Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, and Shannon Price Minter -- Gender pluralisms under the transgender umbrella / Paisley Currah -- The ties that (don't) bind : transgender family law and the unmaking of families / Taylor Flynn -- The roads less traveled : the problem with binary sex categories / Julie A. Greenberg -- Pursuing protection for transgender people through disability laws / Jennifer L. Levi and Bennett H. Klein -- The evolution of employment discrimination protections for transgender people / Kylar W. Broadus -- Deciding fate or protecting a developing autonomy? : intersex children and the Colombian constitutional court / Morgan Holmes -- The rights of intersexed infants and children : decision of the Colombian constitutional court, Bogotá, Colombia, 12 May 1999 (SU-337/99) / translated by Nohemy Solórzano-Thompson --

Do transsexuals dream of gay rights? : getting real about transgender inclusion / Shannon Price Minter -- Transgender communities of the United States in the late twentieth century / Dallas Denny -- Public health gains of the transgender community in San Francisco : grassroots organizing and community-based research / Willy Wilkinson--

Compliance is gendered : struggling for gender self-determination in a hostile economy / Dean Spade -- Transgendering the politics of recognition / Richard M. Juang -- (Trans)sexual citizenship in contemporary Argentina / Mauro Cabral (A.I. Grinspan) and Paula Viturro -- Undiagnosing gender / Judith Butler -- Reinscribing normality? : the law and politics of transgender marriage / Ruthann Robson -- Afterword: Are transgender rights inhuman rights? / Kendall Thomas.

[Ai Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid book, with some interesting essays and some more disappointing ones (the essay authored by Judith Butler is surprisingly boring, even though the language used is perfectly accessible; I'm also uncomfortable with her insertion of herself in what I see as a trans community issue, and her lack of substantive conclusion I think really highlights that.) The most thought-provoking essay for me was probably Jennifer L. Levi and Bennett H. Klein's "Pursuing Protection for Transgender People through Disability Laws," which manages to function both as a fascinating exploration of the topic as well as a sort of basic primer on disability protection laws. Also notable is Shannon Price Minter's "Do Transsexuals Dream of Gay Rights? Getting Real about Transgender Inclusion," and not just for the incredible title--it does a great job of summarizing historical exploration of the connection between gay and lesbian individuals and gender variance.

[Linus Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book. This opened up my mind to more questions I should be asking as I pursue my gender path. It highlights so many different views of the challenges faced by TG individuals. Each chapter is well written by each of the authors with lots of references to get more info.

[Shawn]

So far, kinda interesting.

[Zach]

Good primer.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some good points made in the articles in this book but after the first few, the theme is clear and the rest just seem tedious.

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2004, this collection is rather dated as of 2024, but in some ways this is a positive. One of the articles was written when only Massachusetts permitted same-sex marriage in the US, and today the entire country has that right. This has also removed one potential form of discrimination against trans people, because a marriage is no longer determined by the legal sex of the parties involved, and so it can no longer be arbitrarily dissolved by the court on that basis. This is a substantial gain in only ten years. Many areas also have protections against anti-trans discrimination now that were rare a decade ago. In the other hand, many of the articles touch on discrimination, dehumanization, and murder of trans people, so it's by no means a light read. 

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found a lot of the pieces here really interesting and helpful for various projects I'm working on, but reading a book so cautiously optimistic about trans rights (written in the aughts) in 2025 is pretty emotionally difficult.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting not so much for its conclusion or ideas but how they resonate with today understandings and how they don't.