While transgender lives are at the forefront of contemporary politics, what do we really understand about the complexity of trans experience? Trans people who go through various aspects of gender transition experience shifts not only in their gender, but also with regards to other categories of identity such as race, social class, sexuality, disability, and more.

Centering the stories of trans people and their loved ones, Sojka and de Vries investigate how intersectionality operates at various levels of social meaning – the individual, the interpersonal, and the structural – in the experiences of transgender people. Collectively, they present an argument about why gendered and racialized processes, in intersection, are central to understanding trans lives.

Carey Jean Sojka is Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Southern Oregon University.
Kylan Mattias de Vries is Professor and Chair of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Southern Oregon University.