Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers

by Anne Balay

Long-haul trucking is linked to almost every industry in America, yet somehow the working-class drivers behind big rigs remain largely hidden from public view. Gritty, inspiring, and often devastating oral histories of gay, transsexual, and minority truck drivers allow award-winning author Anne Balay to shed new light on the harsh realities of truckers' lives behind the wheel. A licensed commercial truck driver herself, Balay discovers that, for people routinely subjected to prejudice, hatred, and violence in their hometowns and in the job market, trucking can provide an opportunity for safety, welcome isolation, and a chance to be themselves--even as the low-wage work is fraught with tightening regulations, constant surveillance, danger, and exploitation. The narratives of minority and queer truckers underscore the working-class struggle to earn a living while preserving one's safety, dignity, and selfhood. Through the voices of drivers from marginalized communities who spend eleven- to fourteen-hour days hauling America's commodities in treacherous weather and across mountain passes, Semi Queer reveals the stark differences between the trucking industry's crushing labor practices and the perseverance of its most at-risk workers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Queer, LGBT, Race, History, Ethnography, Labor

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2018

Reviews

[Corvus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been interested in and fascinated by truck driving. The idea of being alone in a big rig and traveling all over the country appeals to my introvert self. I knew, however, just like any job that there were likely many struggles I wouldn't understand until I was in the job. I did not anticipate, however, just how many struggles there are for truckers. This book put a great many things in perspective.

Anne Balay's "Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers" has a limiting title despite its length. The book goes further than these three categories and also includes the voices and perspectives of Brown, Indigenous, Intersex, and Disabled drivers. The text is academic in that it is a study, but it is written accessibly. Balay- a lesbian former truck driver herself- quickly dispels the myth of an almost glamorous lone wolf driver making decent money and traveling all over while enjoying the scenery. Semi Queer is a fascinating and dark catalogue of an intensely difficult and dangerous profession. It includes a large range of voices as well as illustrations and images of some of the drivers featured. Being of marginalized identities definitely compounds the struggles of the job for many, but some also shared that it gave them freedom as well.

A common theme in the book is that truck driving for many people- especially trans people and people with felony charges- is a job choice of opportunity. Those who struggled to find employment due to their gender or race found a home in truck driving. Some narrators described trucking as "addictive" or as something that comes to be your calling- however difficult or dangerous- once one spends so many years there. Some claimed they would never recommend truck driving to anyone- especially women- and only took the job because it was the only one they could get. While voices varied greatly- they all still came back to the reality of the profession as an extremely taxing, over-regulated, often hellish, and very very dangerous thing to do.

One thing that surprised me was just how many oppressive regulations drivers have to deal with. Pretty much all drivers including the author agreed that generally, many regulations made the job more dangerous, for both truck drivers and cars on the road. The impossible sets of standards drivers must meet often contradict each other, making for a damned-if-you-do situation all around. In attempting to meet the impossible regulations, the drivers are also at risk for other dangers such as assaults at truck stops and untreated health problems.

I don't think many people realize- self included- just how little time off truck drivers can take in order to barely make a living wage. Many drivers reported having a few days at home out of an entire year. Many described losing relationships, family, or a stable residence. Many described continuing to work even when the injuries caused by the job were so significant that it consumed their life and thinking.

There were definitely differences in experiences of people based on their identity. Unfortunately, a large number of white LGBT people interviewed held racist views, choosing to blame hardships of the job and lack of opportunity on people of color and immigrants rather than on the mega corporations with all of the power. LGBT peoples experiences with identity-based oppression unsurprisingly depended on how able they were to go stealth. White, always passing, trans men reported being far more worried about trans women than themselves. Black and other people of color reported racist attacks from both employers and fellow drivers. Women across the board- cis and trans- shared experiences of assault, rape, sexual harassment, and discrimination from both employers and other truckers. Almost all of the contributors shook these things off as part of the job and things they did not feel safe reporting, claiming that a take-no-shit attitude is the way you survive.

I was also surprised, though I shouldn't have been, by the amount of driving-related trauma drivers described as well. Many shared witnessing horrific accidents and moving through impossible and terrifying weather conditions. Again, drivers claimed these are all normal things that are part of the job rather than freak occurrences. Time and time again, they told stories of times they had to push through deadly and dangerous conditions so that they met their goals and kept their jobs.

Along with PTSD from trauma, physical disabilities are inevitable for anyone sticking with trucking for many years. There is lack of access to proper healthcare (and no time for it.) Healthcare results are also often shared with employers leading to regulations that affect people's ability to work. As a result many drivers continue at full speed with injuries that become extremely disabling that might otherwise have been treatable with time off. To be a truck driver is to become injured and disabled younger and faster than people in many other professions.

The things I have listed in this review are only part of the story. My review would be even longer if I catalogued everything I learned from this book. I cannot recommend it enough. It is well written, well organized, extremely well researched, and very informative. I have a new appreciation for truck drivers- without whom we would have nothing. Marginalized truckers have it even harder. I already considered them while out on the road, but I now think about them in more complex ways. This book is fascinating and is one I believe everyone should read.

This review was also posted to my blog.

[Kazen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply intersectional nonfiction by queer authors is utterly my jam, and this book is a great example. I've been putting off this review because I don't think I can do it justice, but I think I got close in my (long-ish) wrap up on Booktube. Check that out here: https://youtu.be/cw_q7UKfgRU?t=118

[Carianne Carleo-Evangelist · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book. It's the first I read really looking at gender and sexuality (and to a lesser extent, feminism) in the blue collar working world.

Balay is a former trucker (and car mechanic!) turned ethnographer who sought out interview subjects who were BIPOC, Queer and/or female. Many were some combination thereof and like Balay, I was surprised at the percentage of intersex narrators who responded to her query. The range of narrators' ages also made for different stories based on their time driving. I appreciated Echo the most as it's nice to hear a first nation perspective.

I liked Balay's choice to call them narrators, which fit as she allowed their words to come through. While these were not the stereotype of truckers, the language was close. Aside from the issues that were Balay's focus, like lack of access to medical treatments for those in transition, it was surprising to see the conditions that truckers work under: specifically the lack of union protection and lesser earnings than I would have expected given the advertising you see. It was also interesting to read those claim one degree of privilege and use it against another, with Mexican and Muslisms being most criticized from this pool of atypical truckers. Sad but not particularly surprising to see what the women and transgender women faced at the truck stops.

[Aubri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5. I found the subject matter of this book fascinating and learned quite a lot, but I took issue with the author on a number of points. First, while I've often seen it to be a feature of ethnography, I was deeply irritated at the large degree of interpretation by our author. I wanted to know these people's stories, without her telling me about her thoughts and judgements about said stories. I thought this would be more independent journalism and less self-insertion. Second and relatedly, this read like a published dissertation - it was incredibly dense and painfully academic, which was ironic given the content matter - the book itself would be completely inaccessible to many of the people it was studying. I have two graduate degrees and work in academia and still found my eyes glazing over and my brain overheating while reading this book. Third, this author used outdated and often patently disrespectful language for trans people. While many of our narrators might be fine with her language use, it directly clashed with her use of modern feminist theory and women's studies. Fourth, her self-reflection and interpretation of both the trans people and people of color she interviewed often showed bias and her belief of misinformation. She downplayed the legitimacy of trans people's fear of employment discrimination and sexual assault in the first third of the book, and then goes on to describe those exact scenarios in excruciating detail in the last third.

[Shell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was stunning. I've been interested in women truckers since I read a longform article about them a few years ago, and when I saw this book in a store, I felt compelled to purchase it. I am so glad I did.

It's fascinating, as someone who loves driving long distances, to hear from people who don't for a living, and to learn about how diverse the industry is -- it isn't just comprised of gruff white men --- and why the industry endeavors to hold on to that image anyway.

The details about what truckers go through to keep their jobs, despite injury and trauma, low pay, indentured servitude, harassment and more, are heartbreaking. Balay's treatment of her narrators is sensitive and thoughtful, and she does an excellent job of walking the reader through the different strands of a narrator's testimonial, explaining the path that connects a narrator's thought process as well as the systemic forces that are in play.

One of the most interesting, compelling, and necessary books I've read in a long time.

[Hannah C · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's no airbrushing to this book. It's raw, and you will feel uncomfortable. But I'm still thinking about what I learned after I've finished, and it's changed the way I look at truckers as I drive down the the road. There are not many books I can say have changed me in a way like that.

[Gregg Lines · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read. A lot focused on the economic and regulatory forces on truckers in general. I found it very enlightening and insightful into this niche world that affects us all. I appreciated the chance to hear at length from the various narrators that the author met with and to hear their experiences. Very interesting themes emerge about freedom, autonomy, safety, queerness, class, race, sexuality, and community.

I would recommend for those interested in trucking and the economic model of the industry and lgbtq+ issues.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating, compulsively readable ethnography of truckers on the margins. I had a hard time putting it down. Not only did I learn a lot about trucking and its changing demographics, but about the day-to-day hardships truckers face. Really interesting and well worth a read.

[Errin Weisman · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a unique perspective! Loved the stores

[Lauren]

Found the topic incredibly interesting; the writing felt very belabored, as if the same point was being made in excess.