To date, media and scholarly attention to gay politics and policy has focused on the morality debates over sexual orientation and the legal aspects of rights for non-heterosexuals. However, transgender concerns as such have received little attention. As transgender activism has become more visible, policymakers, both in the United States and around the world, have begun to respond to demands for more equitable treatment.
Jami K. Taylor and Donald P. Haider-Markel bring together new research employing the concepts and tools of political science to explore the politics of transgender rights. Volume contributors address the framing of transgender rights in the U.S. and in Latin America. They discuss transgender interest groups, the inclusion of transgender activists in advocacy coalitions, policy diffusion at the state and local levels, and, importantly, the implementation of transgender public policy. This volume sets the standard for empirical research on transgender politics and demonstrates that the study of this topic can contribute to the understanding of larger questions in the field of political science.
“This much-needed volume takes the T in LGBT politics seriously, offering a variety of interesting new studies of transgender rights and politics. Positivist political scientists take note: the study of transgender politics is here to stay!”
—Susan Burgess, Ohio University
“In this rigorous, timely, and accessible collection, Taylor and Haider-Markel shed much-needed empirical light, from a variety of angles, on the current state of transgender politics. And they do so in the most engaging and productive way possible: in the spirit of coalition, rather than competition, with legalistic and humanistic approaches to the growing field of transgender studies.”
—Heath Fogg Davis, Temple University
“This volume tackles the next major civil rights issue in the U.S. and elsewhere—transgender rights. The editors have recruited top empirical scholars who explore this issue from a variety of angles, throwing down a scholarly marker that will stimulate and guide research here for years to come.”
—Christopher Z. Mooney, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
“This is a timely, well-organized collection of essays that break new ground by providing the first in-depth overview and empirically driven analysis of the politics of transgender rights in the United States.”
—Richard Fording, University of Alabama
Cover photo: Governor Jack Markell signs the Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act, June 19, 2013. Courtesy of the Office of Delaware Governor Jack A. Markell.
