While medical identification and treatment of gender dysphoria have existed for decades, the development of transgender as a “collective political identity” is a recent construct. Over the past twenty-five years, the transgender movement has gained statutory nondiscrimination protections at the state and local levels, hate crimes protections in a number of states, inclusion in a federal law against hate crimes, legal victories in the courts, and increasingly favorable policies in bureaucracies at all levels. It has achieved these victories despite the relatively small number of trans people and despite the widespread discrimination, poverty, and violence experienced by many in the transgender community. This is a remarkable achievement in a political system where public policy often favors those with important resources that the transgender community lacks: access, money, and voters.
The Remarkable Rise of Transgender Rights explains the growth of the transgender rights movement despite its marginalized status within the current political opportunity structure.
“The Remarkable Rise of Transgender Rights not only is the first comprehensive treatment of the success of the trans rights movement, but also serves as a blue print for any other ‘essentially contested rights’ movement. If I may make a bold prediction, this will become the model by which other rights treatment books are structured and judged.”
—Charles Anthony Smith, University of California, Irvine
“The authors have done an excellent job in tackling a complicated and compelling set of issues with humanity, eloquence, and rigor. This book will be of interest to faculty, to students, and to members of the larger LGBTQ community, including activists. Highly recommended!”
—Craig Rimmerman, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
“How did a minority group within a minority group become recognized in a majoritarian political system? The Remarkable Rise of Transgender Rights details the complex path of this stunning development in the LGBT movement and U.S. politics over the past thirty years. This is an important book that should be read widely.”
—Susan Burgess, Ohio University
Cover: Credit Dan Adamson
