Transgendered Perceptions of Urban Space

Published on February 2017 | Categories: Documents | Downloads: 32 | Comments: 0 | Views: 219
of 18
Download PDF   Embed   Report

Comments

Content


Queers in the American City: Transgendered perceptions
of urban space
PETRA L. DOAN
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Abstract This paper explores the complex relationship between transgendered people
and cities in the USA, and, in particular, their relationship with queer spaces within those
cities. Some have argued that queer spaces occur at the margins of society and constitute
a safe haven for LGBToppressed by the hetero-normative nature of urban areas. Data from
a survey of 149 transgendered individuals indicate that although queer spaces provide a
measure of protection for gender variant people, the gendered nature of these spaces results
in continued high levels of harassment and violence for this population. The author argues
that the strongly gendered dimensions of these spaces suggests that a discursive re-
visioning of gender is needed to create more transgender friendly urban spaces.
Key Words: Queer space; transgender; gender variant; urban safety
In recent years the term ‘queer’ has been transformed from an epithet to a
theoretical construct referring to an anti-normative subject position with respect to
sexuality (Jagose, 1996). Butler (1993) suggests that the word, queer, disrupts
‘natural’ dichotomies such as heterosexual/homosexual and gender/sex. Queer
has also been adopted by the very people at whomthe epithet has been directed as
a reflexive strategy to turn away the power of this word to hurt. Furthermore, the
intended targets of this word (people whose subject positions are not generally
accepted, including gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered people, and others
who do not conform to generally accepted practices) have used this labeling to
reclaim their identities and to empower their subject positions (Bell & Valentine,
1995). To ‘queer’ a city therefore means to implicitly recognize the hetero-
normative nature of most urban spaces (Bell et al., 1994) and through overt action
create a safe place for people who identity as queer. Conceptually queer space
occurs at the margin of society, a kind of ‘thirdspace’ or a Foucaltian heterotopia
(Soja, 1996), but Rushbrook (2002) wonders whether this form of inclusive queer
space exists only as a theoretical construct. These concerns with inclusivity are
especially relevant for gender variant people and for transgendered individuals
in particular.
Correspondence: Petra Doan, Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Master’s
Internationalist Program, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Florida State
University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-2280, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
Gender, Place and Culture
Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 57–74, February 2007
ISSN 0966-369X print/ISSN 1360-0524 online/07/010057-18 q 2007 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/09663690601122309
The objective of this paper is to highlight this often neglected group and
consider the nature of their perceptions of a variety of urban spaces. The paper
begins with a brief exploration of the nature and social consequences of gender
variance. The next section examines the gendered nature of gay and lesbian
neighborhoods, and considers to what extent such areas allow individuals to
express their gender in ways that may challenge socially expected gender
dichotomy without fear of hetero-normative restrictions and approbation. The
research then considers one highly stigmatized component of the gender variant
community, those individuals who self identify as transgendered.
1
The second
section of this paper shifts the focus to the transgendered population and uses
data from a snowball survey of transgendered individuals to explore their
perceptions of urban spaces, and in particular queer spaces. The final section
examines the ways that transgender activists have developed discursive spaces
for protest and for education about the full spectrum of gender variance.
Although these actions have taken place in a variety of physical spaces, the
protests themselves have not created permanent spaces but have demonstrated
the transitory and fluid nature of gendered spaces.
Distinguishing Gender Variant and Transgender Populations
Both anthropologists and transgender theorists have argued for some time that it is
not helpful to view gender as a dichotomy. Jacobs & Cromwell (1992) review a
range of anthropological evidence on gender variant individuals to critique the
strongly hetero-normative expectation that gender expression and biological sex
will be congruent. Rothblatt (1995) suggests that social norms surrounding gender
constitute a virtual apartheid of sex. Although the legal definition of male and
female is undefined, the distinction is required on numerous official documents,
forcing individuals to adopt a dichotomous sexual position, even in the face of
growing scientific evidence that intersex conditions are much more common than
previously believed.
2
Within feminism there has been much debate about how to
move beyond the gender dichotomy, but little consensus on how to achieve this
objective. For instance, feminist psychologist Sandra Bemproposed ‘psychological
androgyny’ in the early 1970s, but generated a firestorm of controversy, and most
feminist theorists quickly backed away fromthe concept. In subsequent work Bem
(1993) clarifies that it is the polarization of gender into a rigid dichotomy that must
be removed to allow both men and women to express the full range of human
possibility. Gender de-polarization would undermine the social reproduction of
male power that thrives on the separation and segregation of the sexes and thereby
would provide transgendered individuals greater freedom to express the range of
their gender identity positions.
Gender variant individuals exist in a wide array of cultures and express their
identities in ways that contravene expectations based on their biological sex. This
diversity of expression includes men who express a more feminine aspect of
themselves and women who express an overtly masculine manner. In particular,
these individuals defy societal expectations for modes of dress and behavior that
can and do vary considerably across cultures and across historical periods
(Feinberg, 1996). Some gender variant individuals may also be gay or lesbian,
including both butch lesbians and effeminate gay men.
Transgendered subject positions evolve when society fails to recognize that an
individual’s gender identity may be variant fromanatomical sex at birth. The term
58 P. L. Doan
transgender has been appropriated by some gender variant individuals as an
umbrella term referring to people who feel the need to contravene societal
expectations and express a gender variant identity on a regular basis.
3
These
people include: cross-dressers, drag queens, drag kings, and pre-operative, post-
operative, and non-operative transsexuals. In other young queer identified
populations, new identity positions may be claimed using terms such as tranny-
fag, boychik, and gender-queer. A critical distinction in this population is that the
need to express this identity may have different levels of intensity (see Figure 1).
This feeling may manifest itself as the need for a clear shift from male to female
(MtF or trans women) or from female to male (FtM or trans men) or as a more
intermittent cross-dressing. The frequency of these behaviors may vary from
occasional gender bending to permanent decisions to express the deeply felt
gender identity on a full-time basis. People who engage in intermittent acts of
transgender expression are usually referred to as cross-dressers. This category
may include men (usually gay) who perform as female impersonators (drag
queens) or women (usually lesbian) who perform as male impersonators (drag
kings). People who feel the need to live full time in their self-perceived gender
are sometimes called transsexuals. Drag queens and drag kings may also be
transsexual.
Those transgendered individuals who feel they must transition and fully
embody a gender at variance with their anatomical sex face an assortment of other
difficulties related to the physical changes. In many cases the decision to transition
involves altering the body by using hormones and/or surgery. The total cost of
these procedures for a MtF can be as high as $25,000 and for an FtM can be from
$50,000 to $100,000. In other cases some individuals (i.e. non-operative
transsexuals) may choose non-invasive measures, but will nevertheless present
outwardly as the gender with which they identify. Among trans men there is an
additional distinction between those who have had ‘top surgery’ and those who
have had ‘bottom surgery’. During their transitional stage nearly all of these
transgendered people remain rather obviously gender variant. MtF individuals
(also known as trans women) are likely to be taller, have deeper voices, larger
hands, and prominent Adam’s apples than most women. FtM individuals
Figure 1. Types and intensity of gender identity.
Transgendered Perceptions of Urban Space 59
(also known as trans men) taking male hormones may be quite ‘passable’ as men
after six months to a year (Rees, 1996), but are likely to be shorter, have smaller
hands, and at least initially have higher voices than other men.
The high levels of social stigma attached to being gender variant make an
assessment of the size of the trans population extraordinarily difficult. The
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV, 1994) estimates
that approximately one in 33,000 men and one in 100,000 women are transsexual
(American Psychiatric Association, 1994). These statistics, however, have been
questioned by a number of scholars. In the Netherlands, where transgender status
is less highly stigmatized, the prevalence is estimated to be one per 11,900 males
and one per 30,400 females (Bakker et al., 1993). In Singapore the ratios appear to
be even higher with one per 9,000 males and one per 27,000 females (Tsoi, 1988).
Other scholars suggest a different estimation procedure to obtain a prevalence of
one in 2,500 males who have undergone sexual reassignment surgery based on the
number of surgeries performed on US citizens compared to the number of men in
the potential age range (Conway, 2002). Obviously these numbers do not represent
the entire range of transgendered population. Anecdotal evidence suggests that
many individuals may present to doctors initially as transsexual, but are either not
approved for surgery or elect not to alter their bodies in this manner. Finally the
size of the cross-dressing population is even harder to assess. Several estimates
have placed the number of cross-dressers at approximately 1% of the population
(Bullough & Bullough, 1993; Feinbloom, 1976), but these numbers are highly
subjective, since this group remains extremely closeted. Table 1 presents an
estimate of the trans population of a hypothetical city of one million people using
these estimates.
The Social Consequences of Transgressing Gender Norms
Individuals who transgress gender norms are likely to experience profound social
consequences, including discrimination and outright violence. Mackenzie (1994)
suggests that there are no safe social spaces for individuals who live outside the
bipolar gender world. People who challenge gender norms can often trigger a
virulent and usually violent response, which some have labeled gender bashing
(Namaste, 1996). Gender theorist Riki Wilchins (2004) argues that
Table 1. Estimates of queer population in a hypothetical city of one million
United States
(DSM - IV, 1994)
Netherlands
(Bakker et al., 1993)
Singapore
(Tsoi, 1988)
United States
(Conway, 2002)
Gay/Lesbian
a
100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000
Transsexuals 43 117 148
MtF (male to female) 33 84 111 400
FtM (female to male) 10 33 37
Non-operative
transsexuals
b
43 117 148 400
Cross-dresser
c
10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000
Total transgender 10,086 10,234 10,296 10,800
Total queer 110,086 110,234 110,296 110,800
a
Gays and lesbians are generally assumed to be 10% of the population.
b
Non-operative transsexuals are assumed to be roughly the same as transsexuals who have completed
Gender Reassignment Surgery.
c
Cross-dressers are generally assumed to be 1% of the population.
60 P. L. Doan
In the 1970s and 1980s, Americans were prepared to debate some degree
of rights for gays, but they were actively hostile towards anything that
smacked of genderqueerness. Mannish women and effeminate men
remained as unpalatable as ever to mainstreamAmerica. (Wilchins, 2004,
p. 16)
Most transgendered people are painfully aware that their visible transgression of
gender norms makes them one of the most vulnerable and least protected
communities in social space. The early socialization of trans men as girls makes
them acutely aware of the swift retribution which would be their lot if they are
‘discovered’ as a trans. MtF individuals, although originally socialized as boys, are
forced to learn the lesson of vulnerability within the city (Bockting et al., 1998). Trans
women who live full time as women have the same potential to be treated as
‘targets’ for harassment, abuse, potential street crime victims. Trans people who do
not ‘pass’ and emerge in urban public spaces as visibly transgenderedmay evoke an
even harsher reaction (Namaste, 1996; Witten & Eyler, 1999). A recent survey of 402
transgendered individuals fromacross the United States found that over half of this
population had experienced some form of harassment or violence during their
lifetime anda quarter had faceda potentially serious violent assault (Lombardi et al.,
2001). Kenagy (2005) cites two studies in the Philadelphia metropolitan area that
indicate that 51% of the survey respondents had been physically abused and 56%
had experienced violence within the home. In addition, the National Transgender
Advocacy Coalition estimates that since 1990 there has been approximately one
transgendered person killed each month, and since the year 2000 the number has
been closer to two per month.
4
Because of the extreme vulnerability of this group,
anti-trans violence might serve as an early warning system for deep-seated
intolerance present in an urban area (Doan, 2001).
Another serious consequence of gender variance is the high levels of social stigma
attached to transgressing norms of gender presentation. A recent public health
survey found that transgender related health issues were severely ‘under-studied’
(Boehmer, 2002) and while the American Public Health Association (1999) has
issued a public position statement about the special needs of transgendered people,
until these recommendations are widely implemented by practitioners, there will
continue to be a large gap in the availability of quality health care. The
internalization of this stigma means that suicides and attempted suicides are
common among transgendered individuals. Statistics on the incidence of suicide
within this population are not definitive because of the tendency not to report
transgender status as a cause, or to report transgendered individuals in the same
category as gay or lesbian. However, studies of transgendered individuals suggest
that the suicidal ideation rate is as high as 35% (Xavier, 2000) and as many as 30%
have actually attempted suicide (Kenagy, 2005; Pfafflin & Junge, 1992; Stuart, 1991;
Van Kesteren, 1997). These health-related problems may cause trans men and
women to feel uncared for and less welcome in cities.
Unorthodox gender presentation also makes it difficult for some individuals to
find or maintain gainful employment. Because the appearance of gender is not
protected by most anti-discrimination ordinances, even highly skilled trans
people can be fired from their jobs and become unemployed. Desperate for
income, some transgendered individuals seek work on the street, and are at risk
from substance abuse, unprotected sexual experiences, and various mental health
problems (Cochran et al., 2002). Urban areas like the Tenderloin in San Francisco
Transgendered Perceptions of Urban Space 61
can become a focal point for young transgendered people, who may only find
work as prostitutes (Stryker, 2004; Weinberg et al., 1999). Those individuals who
struggle to make ends meet as a result of this discrimination are likely to feel less
protected in cities.
The Gendered Nature of Queer Space
It is not just society at large that has rigid expectations of appropriately gendered
behavior. Many individuals within the gay and lesbian (G/L) community have
internalized these same gender role assumptions in their desire to assimilate into
the wider population. This is ironic because prior to the 1969 Stonewall revolution
flouting gender norms was one method of signifying queerness. Within the gay
community female impersonators have long been a highly visible expression of
queerness and were mostly tolerated by the gay community as long as their
presentation was clearly a performance and limited to certain venues. Drag shows
were popular events in gay bars and patrons of lesbian bars were frequently
divided into the ‘butches’ and the ‘femmes’.
Perhaps as a result of this playing with gender, many people outside of the queer
community began to assume that gender variance was an infallible indicator of
homosexuality. Because of this continuing misperception, hate crimes are often
triggered by gender variant behavior whether or not the person is gay, lesbian, or
transgendered. After Stonewall and the rise of political ‘liberation’ movements,
many gay and lesbian activists wished to present themselves as ‘normal’ except for
their selectionof partners. As aresult, gayandlesbiancommunities put muchgreater
emphasis on gender normality. Faderman (1991) suggests that during the 1960s and
1970s the most obviously gender variant women, especially the most overtly butch
andfemme women, were pressuredtoadopt dress andbehaviors more acceptable to
society. During this period many lesbians adopted a casual attire of jeans and a
flannel shirt, that is neither terribly butch or femme. Others have described tensions
within the lesbian community over the highly gendered subject positions of butches
and femmes, with the latter being seen by some people as lipstick lesbians and often
not ‘real’ lesbians (Harris & Crocker, 1997). Within the gay community gender non-
conformity also began to be suppressed and overtly effeminate men were often
marginalized (Taywaditep, 2001). Many gay men have adopted a more uniformly
‘masculine’ persona (short hair, developed muscles, and tight clothes).
These same attitudes are evident in the development of queer spaces in North
American cities after Stonewall. Early studies of gay male spaces focused on gay
men’s interest in dominating urban territory (Castells, 1983) and stimulating
neighborhood gentrification (Lauria & Knopp, 1985). Today in most overtly gay
spaces there is little to no visible gender queerness or any indication that such
variance is tolerated. Even in San Francisco’s Castro District, often considered the
archetype of queer space, the streets are filled with well muscled men and even
the window displays are masculinely gendered. Other spaces such as Chicago’s
Boys Town uses what Nast (2002) has described as ‘phallic rimming’ of the main
street (North Halsted St.) with metallic pillars topped by rainbow-colored rings.
Both through its name and in its most visible symbols this area is also clearly
masculinized. Philadelphia’s queer space uses a similarly masculinist play on
words, to call itself the Gayborhood.
Lesbian spaces are less explicitly gendered and less visible for a variety of
reasons. Adler &Brenner (1993) suggest that lower incomes amonglesbians make it
62 P. L. Doan
difficult to invest in houses at the same rate as gay men. Furthermore, women are
more likelyto have custody of childrenwhichshifts their residential locationchoice
towards areas withmore attractive schools andother neighborhoodamenities. This
tendency to locate in more traditional suburban areas can be problematic because
lesbians are particularly sensitive to the heterosexing of urban spaces (Valentine,
1993). As a result some lesbians have clustered in smaller towns in places like
Northampton, Massachusetts (Forsyth, 1997a) and Asheville, North Carolina
(Brown, 1999). Others have suggested that lesbian identity is often written on the
bodies of lesbians through clothing choice, hair style, or other accessories, but not
on the built environment (Peace, 2001). As a result, lesbians may use symbols like
pinkie rings, labris earrings, rainbows, or simplyanovert gaze tosignifyspaces and
to quietly proclaim an identity for themselves (Valentine, 1996). This subtlety
means that lesbian neighborhoods are not as visible as overtly gay areas, but
comprise communities of like-minded women who blend into the built
environment (Wolfe, 1997). Some lesbian social spaces such as Park Slope in
Brooklyn do not have a physical commercial center (Rothenberg, 1995), but inother
areas, such as Northampton, lesbians may be important though less visible
business owners within urban commercial areas (Forsyth, 1997b).
The suggestion that ‘queer space’ might be a more inclusive conceptual
alternative to the hetero-normative nature of most urban spaces (Bell et al., 1994; Bell
&Valentine, 1995; Betsky, 1997; Ingramet al., 1997) does not appear to have lived up
to its radical and more inclusive vision. Gender queer people are generally only
visible in such spaces during special occasions like Halloween or during Dyke
marches and Pride Parades. The commodification of gay space by the patriarchal
institutions that remain in control of post-industrial society (Nast, 2002) leaves little
space for women (Valentine, 2000), resulting inlesbianareas that are not distinct, but
are blended into otherwise bohemian neighborhoods which can be called ‘spaces of
difference’ (Podmore, 2001). Most queer spaces have been unable to accommodate
alternative subject positions such as bisexuality (Hemmings, 2002) and non-
traditional gender presentations within these communities, leaving these
individuals vulnerable and invisible in public spaces (Namaste, 2000).
A rigid adherence to a dichotomous view of gender has resulted in a silencing of
transgendered voices, particularly in academic discourse, but also within feminist
and lesbian communities (Whittle, 1996). For instance, the geographic literature
dealing with sexuality and space deals with heterosexuals, gays, and lesbians, but
has been silent on both bisexuals (Hemmings, 2002) and the transgendered
(Namaste, 2001). The construction of the term‘womyn-born-womyn’ was a result of
this discrimination and has been implemented at events like the Michigan Womyns’
Music Festival (MWMF) (Meyerowitz, 2002), touching off a cascade of protest (more
below). Taylor (1998) recounts a similar attempt to limit Sydney’s Lesbian Space
Project to female-born-lesbians only, which split the lesbian community and
ultimately stalled the proposed construction project. Stone (1991) argues that
transsexuals’ need to pass is a function of the dominant culture’s fixation on
dichotomous gender, and calls for a post-transsexual manifesto in which trans
people will lead the way to a fundamental reconception of gender. Bornstein (1994)
extends this conception andsuggests that there are not just two genders but as many
as a thousand different genders only limited by our imagination. The power of
reconceptualizing gender lies in the fact that ‘to be fluid in one’s gender challenges
the oppressive process of gender andpower processes whichuse gender to maintain
power structures’ (Whittle, 1996, p. 210). This call for new and more explicitly
Transgendered Perceptions of Urban Space 63
visible ways to express the full spectrum of gender variance is echoed by Feinberg
(1996), Green (2004), Namaste (2000), and Wilchins (2004). The difficulty is how to
achieve these changes in the face of such discrimination without access to the
physical spaces needed to make these challenges visible.
Transgendered Perceptions of Urban Spaces
In order to examine the ways that transgendered individuals perceive urban
spaces, it is critical to understand the role that queer spaces play as an entry point
into the city for many trans people, even though there is very little public trans or
gender variant presence in most of these areas. Nevertheless, it is on the fringes of
the queer community that a person who is coming to terms with his or her
transgendered identity is able to explore a different gender within the confines of
that relatively safe space. These initial impressions are important in shaping the
ways in which the city is viewed even long after transition. It is therefore useful to
turn to the transgendered populations themselves and assess their perceptions of
urban spaces as well as their level of connectedness with queer community spaces.
Asnowball survey of 149 transgenderedindividuals was conductedtoexplore the
trans perceptions of the urbanareas inwhichtheylive, work, andplay, as well as their
level of connections tosupposedly queer areas. The survey instrument was designed
by the author and was primarily circulated at two major gender conferences (the
Southern Comfort Convention held in Atlanta in fall 2000 and the Fourth
International Congress on Cross-dressing, Sex, and Gender held in Philadelphia in
spring 2001. Survey respondents were encouraged to distribute this instrument
widely in the form of a snowball technique to a variety of transgender support
groups
5
). These conferences draw from a broad national audience, and the sample
includes individuals from 29 states and four overseas countries. However, because
the Southern Comfort Convention occurs each year in Atlanta, there are more
respondents fromAtlantaandseveral other southeasterncities thanwouldhavebeen
expected in a randomsurvey design. After some descriptive detail about the survey
respondents, the analysis will focus on those survey questions which asked this
population about their experiences inthe city andwithany queer spaces in their city.
Except for their gender non-conformity, this population is a stable and well
educated group of middle-aged individuals with an average age of 46 years. Most of
the respondents are employed full time (68%), although some are working part-time
(11%), others are retired (11%), and a few are students (5%). The most important
occupational category in the group is professionals (38%), with others in managerial
positions (14%), self-employed (15%), and skilled manual labor (13%). The sample
also includes smaller numbers of clerical and household workers. The respondents
are evenly divided in their education levels with roughly one-third having a high
school degree, one-third a BA or BS and one-third having a graduate degree.
The sample spans a range of gender identities including: 43 MtF cross-dressers
(29%), 80 MtF transsexuals (54%), and 26 FtMs in various stages of transition
(17%). Approximately 31% have no plans to transition, 39% are getting ready to
change genders, and 29% are living full-time in their appropriate gender. Table 2
describes the gender identity and residential location patterns revealed by the
survey. 99 (69.4%) of respondents lived either downtown or in traditional suburbs
of metropolitan areas. The rest lived in outlying or peripheral areas which
included smaller communities outside the metropolitan region as well as rural
areas. It is interesting to note that trans men (FtM) are more likely to live
64 P. L. Doan
downtown and less likely to live in the suburbs than other trans people, though
the smaller numbers for this sub-group make broader generalizations difficult.
Cross-dressers (MtF CD) are the most likely to live in the suburbs, which follows
logically since most of these individuals are not ‘out’ and thus live apparently
normal lives like the majority of Americans (i.e. in the suburbs). It is somewhat
surprising then that those who identify as MtF transsexuals (MtF TS) also tend to
live in the suburbs rather than in downtown areas, since this group as a whole
tends to be the most visibly gender variant of the three identity groups. One
possible explanation for the residential patterns of MtF TS is that they may have
established residency in a neighborhood prior to transition and may be reluctant
to move away from friends and family.
Because of the social stigmas detailed above, the survey asked respondents
about specific experiences of harassment they had experienced over the past year.
Table 3 presents the rather disturbing evidence that roughly one-third of all
respondents have experienced some form of blatant staring within the past year.
When trans people experience a hostile glare, it is clear that they have been singled
out by a disquieting use of the hetero-normative gaze. Somewhat fewer (22%) had
experienced hostile verbal comments, and even fewer had experienced physical
harassment (17%), but these percentages vary by gender identity. Cross-dressers
were most likely to be stared at (38%), MtF transsexuals were most likely to be
verbally harassed (25%), and trans men were most likely to be physically harassed
(19%). These numbers indicate that fears on the part of transgender populations
about safety in urban areas are well founded. Physical safety remains an urgent
concern for this highly vulnerable section of the population.
Table 4 reports the perceptions of respondents about the safety of their city for
Lesbian Gay Bisexual (LGB) people. A second question asked respondents about
their perceptions of the safety of their city for trans people. Not surprisingly, these
data indicate that respondents felt that their cities were less safe for the trans
population than the LGB population. A more interesting aspect of these
perceptions is the way that they vary when queer neighborhoods are included.
When transgendered perceptions of safety were cross-tabulated with the presence
of an identifiable queer neighborhood, a chi square test indicated that there is a
significant relationship. If a city has a visibly queer area, trans people feel
markedly safer than they would in cities without such queer centers. This is true
even though most of the respondents only visit these spaces on an occasional
Table 2. Residence location by gender identity
MtF CD MtF TS FtM both TOTAL
Downtown 6 (14.0%) 10 (12.5%) 7 (26.9%) 23 (15.4%)
Suburbs 25 (58.1%) 41 (51.3%) 10 (38.5%) 76 (51.0%)
Periphery 10 (23.2%) 27 (33.8%) 6 (23.3%) 43 (28.9%)
TOTAL 43 (100%) 80 (100%) 26 (100%) 149
Table 3. Have you felt threatened in your city during the last year?
MtF CD MtF TS FtM both TOTAL
Hostile stares 16 38.1% 26 32.9% 6 23.1% 48 32.7%
Hostile comments 7 17.1% 20 25.0% 5 19.2% 32 21.8%
Physical harassment 6 14.6% 14 17.7% 5 19.2% 25 17.1%
Transgendered Perceptions of Urban Space 65
basis. Perhaps queer spaces provide some form of a psychologically protective
umbrella for transgendered people, because such spaces do tolerate intermittent
acts of gender experimentation.
Trans people in the early stages of their coming out process and who are
experimenting with new ways to present their gender are likely to seek out a
support group which often will meet in a Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender
(LGBT) community center or equivalent welcoming institution. It is through this
initial interaction that a relationship is built with the wider LGBT community.
Further examination of the survey data reinforces this trend. Seventy-seven
respondents said that either they or members of their trans support group
participated in LGBTcommunity events, such as Pride Parades. Furthermore, 62%
of the respondents indicated that they had visited an LGBT oriented institution
(bar, bookstore, community center, etc.) at least one time over the past year, and
42% had done so more than three times. Table 5 provides examples of the survey
respondents’ perceptions of their connections to the LGBT community and to
queer areas. It is interesting that much larger proportions of transsexuals (both
MtF and FtM) report belonging to support groups than other members of the trans
community and also that their group actively participates in LGBT community
events. Clearly there are a variety of connections between the trans community
and the wider LGBT community.
Respondents were also asked about whether their city had an identifiable queer
neighborhood. Nearly half the respondents (44%) indicated that their city did
Table 4. Perceptions of urban safety by presence of a queer neighborhood
City has a queer area
No Yes TOTAL
How safe is your city for
Gays, Lesbians, and Bisexuals?
Unsafe 14 (16%) 1 (2%) 15
Tolerable 47 (55%) 19 (31%) 66
Good 25 (29%) 41 (67%) 66
How safe is your city for
Transgendered people?
Unsafe 18 (21%) 3 (5%) 21
Tolerable 44 (52%) 26 (42%) 70
Good 23 (27%) 32 (53%) 55
Table 5. Transgender community connections to the queer community
MtF CD MtF TS FtM both TOTAL
Do you have a gender
support group?
No 7 24 11 42
Yes 35 56 15 106
Does your group attend LGBT
events?
No 7 8 2 17
Yes 23 43 11 77
Is there a visible Gay
& Lesbian Area in your city?
No 29 46 13 88
Yes 14 24 13 61
Do you live in the
Gay & Lesbian area?
No 43 75 25 143
Yes 0 5 1 6
66 P. L. Doan
have a queer-identified area, however only six respondents (4%) actually lived in
one of those areas. When they asked why they did not live in such neighborhoods
the most frequent responses were that it was too expensive (16), the convenience
of suburban or small town amenities (9), proximity to work at the edge of the
urban periphery (4), and being near school districts and other child-oriented
amenities (3). Although the queer communities provide some support to
transgendered individuals in the early phases of exploration and transition,
visibly queer neighborhoods do not serve the residential needs of this population.
So how can trans people organize to ensure their own safety?
Creating Gender Friendly Queer Spaces
Both MtF and FtM transgendered people share a common thread with women in
their experience of space as inherently gender biased. Feminist scholars have
shown that urban spaces which have been designed and built largely by men can
be quite unsafe for women (Valentine, 1989; Pain, 1991; Peake, 1993; Day, 1999).
This male domination of urban public spaces can lead to verbal harassment,
physical abuse, and other forms of discrimination. Urban safety issues have often
been catalysts for the women’s movement and have stimulated a variety of activist
responses to changing the built environment including: organizing ‘Take Back the
Night’ marches, and lobbying for more police protection, installing better lighting,
and demanding more humane treatment for female victims of rape and abuse. For
women changing the built environment first required changes in underlying
social institutions.
The transgendered community has had to learn this lesson as well. The
transgendered are also vulnerable to male violence, but their small numbers mean
that protecting this uniquely vulnerable population is rarely on anyone’s political
agenda. Since the early 1990s this population has begun to make changes to the
way that gender variance is perceived by the wider population in order to begin
making their own claims on urban spaces. The first steps have been to create
discursive spaces that are welcoming of the full range of gendered subject
positions. The trans population has developed a number of strategies for
organizing and creating such spaces even if they are only temporary. Because
transgendered populations are relatively small, it is unlikely that there would ever
be enough trans people in one area to establish a ‘transgender’ enclave similar to
the established gay and lesbian areas in larger cities. However, in the past 15 years
the availability of information on the internet has opened up many doors for trans
people who might otherwise have never communicated with anyone like
themselves. The possibility of establishing an ‘on-line support’ community which
is ‘non-spatial’ in nature has been extremely helpful for many newer trans people
(Whittle, 2002). The growing use of computer based communication has seen a
huge increase in the creation of online communities, at first through bulletin board
groups, and then virtual chat rooms, world wide web sites and an ever expanding
list of electronic mail list servers that proliferates in cyberspace. These venues for
sharing information, exchanging personal stories, and for online organizing have
transformed communications between dispersed individuals and allowed the
transgender community to begin organizing in new ways.
The first step for many trans people in coming out and making contact is often
attendance at a local support group (Gagne´ et al., 1997), whose existence may be
explored initially through the anonymity of email. Face to face meetings in a safe,
Transgendered Perceptions of Urban Space 67
almost always extremely private environment sometimes follow the initial
electronic contact. Local support group meetings sometimes venture out into the
more public private spaces of shopping malls and gay clubs, but these are
perceived as too risky by many members. The full extent of this larger community
is not really evident until the individual attends one of the many transgender
conventions that occur throughout the country. At these meetings hundreds of
participants may gather at standard convention oriented facilities and establish a
mostly public presence for a splendid array of gender identity positions for
periods of up to a week.
The Fantasia Fair Gathering in Provincetown, Massachusetts is the grand-
mother of these gatherings, and has been meeting since the 1980s. The safety of
this very gay friendly town helps to encourage fearful first timers to participate,
and the placement of the convention at the very end of tourist season ensures that
there will be few other tourists around to make a fuss. In contrast, the Southern
Comfort Convention occurs each September in the heart of downtown Atlanta
and creates transgender friendly safe spaces in several major hotels. While the
safety created in these urban spaces is temporary, the effect of the opportunity for
convention attendees to express openly what have previously been only private
gender identity positions is quite powerful. The empowering effect of
experiencing urban public spaces within a supportive context sometimes results
in attenders making life changing decisions to be more open about their gender
identity upon returning home.
For some transgender individuals these connections with a wider community
have resulted in significant public activism. Most recent trans activism has
occurred in the aftermath of the wave of queer activism surrounding the AIDS
crisis.
The first transgender activist group to embrace the new queer politics
was Transgender Nation, founded in 1992 as an offshoot of Queer
Nation’s San Francisco chapter. Transgender Nation noisily dragged
transgender issues to the forefront of San Francisco’s queer community,
and at the local level successfully integrated transgender concerns with
the political agendas of lesbian, gay, and bisexual activists to forge a truly
inclusive glbtq [gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer]
community. Transgender Nation organized a media-grabbing protest at
the 1993 annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association to call
attention to the official pathologization of transgender phenomena.
(Stryker, 2004, p. 3)
Another example of trans activism is the formation of Camp Trans outside the
Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. In 1991 Nancy Burkholder, an MtF transsexual
woman, was ejected from the MWMF because she was not a womyn-born womyn
(Meyerowitz, 2002). This exclusionary policy sparked a new chapter of organized
trans activism, in which transsexual protesters calling themselves Camp Trans took
over a piece of land adjacent to the MWMF gates to protest the exclusion of trans
women and to educate festival attenders about trans issues. The stated purpose of
Camp Trans was ‘to promote an understanding of gender from a variety of
perspectives and to address issues of disenfranchisement in the women’s and
lesbian communities’ (Koyami, n.d.). The attenders at the first Camp Trans included
an impressive array of trans activists and supporters including: Riki Wilchins, Leslie
68 P. L. Doan
Feinberg, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and James Green. In subsequent years other Camps
have continued to make this protest an annual event with the support of allies such
as the Lesbian Avengers.
Several of the participants of the original Camp Trans formed a group called the
Transexual Menace which protested anti-trans violence and the exclusion of
transgender individuals from various groups and physical spaces. The first action
undertaken by the Menace was a protest against transgender exclusion from the
Pride March on the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. As Riki Wilchins, one
of the group’s founders, describes the organization,
The Menace does not carry out hostile actions: never has, never will. We
ARE primarily interested in showing up to EDUCATE and INFORM
their staff and volunteers, their donors, and the queer community at
large. . . maybe these aren’t your tactics, maybe they aren’t your
experience. But the motto ‘Confront with Love’ has served us very well
now for almost 2 years of demos and we will continue to use it to guide
our actions in the future. (Wilchins, n.d.)
The Menace organized powerful public protests after the murders of prominent
transgender individuals. For instance, in May of 1995 roughly 40 people from
across North America came to Falls City, Nebraska to hold a vigil in memory of
Brandon Teena
6
during the trial of one of the men accused of murdering him. The
next year over 40 gender activists demonstrated in front of the office of
Washington DC’s Mayor Marion Barry, calling for a full investigation into Tyra
Hunter’s death.
7
This activism helped to stimulate an awareness campaign by
other trans activists about the high trans murder rate which resulted in memorial
services held in hundreds of cities across North America each year in November.
In addition, in 1995 several members of the Menace attended the annual
convention of the National Organization of Women and worked for the passage of
a resolution that called for the de-pathologization of Gender Identity Disorder in
the DSM-IV and also the right to medical care ‘on-demand’ for all people to
achieve and maintain their own expression of gendered identity. Subsequent
protests occurred jointly with the InterSex Society of North America protesting
genital mutilation of inter-sexed babies at the American Medical Association
Conference.
Finally there is ongoing political work to ensure safety from various forms of
discrimination at the local level since trans issues have been historically
neglected (Currah et al., 2000). To address these problems the transgender
community has created several political action organizations to lobby for change
in Washington DC and in state capitals around the United States. There are
annual Gender Lobby Days where as many as 100 trans and gender queer
activists have shown up in Washington DC to visit Congress and press for
legislative understanding of transgender issues and the broader issue of gender
variance. Of the 32 states that have passed hate crimes legislation including
sexual orientation, only 10 states also include gender identity issues. Of the 235
cities, counties, or other local governments that have passed some form of civil
rights protection on the basis of sexual orientation, only 52 of these have also
included gender identity (National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, n.d.). The presence
of articulate and persistent gender variant individuals on Capitol Hill is a
significant step forward, but much work remains to ensure equitable treatment
and safe urban spaces.
Transgendered Perceptions of Urban Space 69
Conclusions
In conclusion, this paper has argued that the rush to celebrate some urban areas as
inclusive queer spaces is premature, particularly with respect to gender variant
individuals. The diversely gendered subjectivities of gender variant individuals
challenge deeply held gender expectations of both gay and straight populations.
As a result these transgendered and gender queer people often serve as virtual
lightning rods for intolerance, discrimination, and oppression.
Existing queer spaces are mostly composed of gay and lesbian residential, and
in some cases, commercial areas, which replicate a strongly hetero-normative
gender dichotomy. In many areas progress has been made in the form of adding a
‘T’ for transgendered to the names of community institutions. But this is just a first
step in a longer term agenda of re-visioning gender into a rainbow of identity
positions and challenging the oppressive processes of gender used to maintain
power structures.
While trans people do take advantage of the safety of the LGBT umbrella for
support groups and occasional social excursions, only rarely do such places
satisfy their residential needs. The transgendered are too small a proportion of the
entire queer population to effectively form concentrations, much less neighbor-
hoods themselves. As a result the trans community has explored a variety of ways
to create discursive spaces that are welcoming of the full range of gendered subject
positions, including: on-line chat rooms and list serves, annual conventions,
periodic public protests, and regular political lobbying. These activities are
important community building steps, and are likely to have lasting effects on the
ways that gender variance is perceived by the rest of society. However, in order to
achieve such long term changes it is important to increase the visibility of gender
variance in the physical spaces of urban areas as well as the discursive spaces in
which they have been successful to date.
The increasing level of activism has made individual queer spaces somewhat
more gender friendly, but there is much more to do. Although there is a slowly
increasing tolerance for more visibly identifiable gay and lesbian couples within
many cities, acceptance of visible trans people is lagging far behind. Planning
implications for LGBT populations have begun to surface (Forsyth, 2001), but
these are sometimes viewed as one more minority population making claims for
special treatment. Broader linkages to urban safety issues need to be established. If
public spaces, parks, streets, shopping areas do not feel safe to one segment of
society, can that space be truly safe for other minority groups? Cities and urban
spaces that have experienced incidents of gender bashing are likely to be
experiencing a broader range of intolerant behaviors that are likely to affect a
much wider population. Progressive citizens and urban activists of all types need
to make extra efforts to understand this poorly understood segment of the
population because ensuring their safety will make the city a safer place for all
people.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to express her appreciation to Elizabeth Kamphausen for
her patient review of multiple drafts as well as the Editor and anonymous
reviewers of this journal whose comments contributed to the final form of this
paper.
70 P. L. Doan
Notes
1. The ‘T’ for transgender was the last letter of the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) alphabet
soup to be added to most queer community institutions, and remains less well understood than
other forms of gender variance.
2. Anne Fausto-Sterling (2000) suggests that 1.7 of every 100 babies is born with some form of an
intersex condition.
3. It may be useful at this point to acknowledge the author’s subject position as a post-operative trans
woman who identifies as a lesbian feminist embodying many of the visible markers of gender
variance (including a six foot physical frame, large hands, and a resonantly deep bass voice) with
little concern to ‘pass’ as anything other than herself.
4. NTAC’s web site is located at: http://www.ntac.org N.B. This site draws heavily on an earlier web
site created by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, called ‘Remembering Our Dead’ located at http://www.
gender.org/remember.
5. This snowball sampling strategy is frequently used to assess difficult to locate populations. In this
case the population sampled did not include several visible but hard to pin down trans
populations—female impersonators and transgendered sex workers. Therefore the author was not
able to generalize these findings to the lower income transgendered population. In addition the
sample is skewed towards trans women (123) vs. trans men (26).
6. BrandonTeenawas afemale-to-male transsexual whowas rapedandlater brutallymurderedin1994.
Several films have been made about this case, including The Brandon Teena Story and Boys Don’t Cry.
7. Tyra Hunter was a transgendered woman fatally injured in a car crash in Washington DCin August
1995. During the course of their treatment the paramedics cut away her clothes and discovered her
male genitalia. At this point they began laughing, addressed the patient with slurs, and stopped
treating their patient while she laying dying on the sidewalk. Subsequently a jury awarded Ms.
Hunter’s mother $2.8 million in punitive damages for this egregious treatment
References
Adler, Sy & Brenner, Johanna (1993) Gender and Space: Lesbians and gay men in the city, International
Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 16, pp. 24–34.
American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—Fourth
Edition (Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association).
Bakker, A., Van Kesteren, P. J. M. & Gooren, L. J. G. (1993) The Prevalence of Transsexualism in the
Netherlands, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavian, 87, pp. 237–238.
Bell, David & Valentine, Gill (Eds) (1995) Mapping Desire: Geographies of sexualities (New York,
Routledge).
Bell, David, Binnie, Jon, Cream, Julia & Valentine, Gill (1994) All Hyped up and No Place to Go, Gender,
Place, and Culture, 1, pp. 31–48.
Bem, Sandra L. (1975) Sex Role Adaptability: One Consequence of Psychological Androgyny, Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 31(4), pp. 634–643.
Bem, Sandra L. (1993) The Lenses of Gender: Transforming the debate on sexual inequality (New Haven, Yale
University Press).
Betsky, Aaron (1997) Queer Space: Architecture and same sex desire (New York, William Morrow and Co).
Bockting, W., Robinson, B. & Rosser, B. (1998) Transgender HIV Prevention: A qualitative needs
assessment, AIDS Care-psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV, 10(4), pp. 505–525.
Boehmer, U. (2002) Twenty Years of Public Health Research: Inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender populations, American Journal of Public Health, 92(7), pp. 1125–1130.
Bornstein, Kate (1994) Gender Outlaw: On women, men, and the rest of us (New York, Routledge).
Brown, CarolynSpencer (1999) Asheville, NC: Bright lights, small city, The Washington Post, Sunday
9 May.
Bullough, Vern & Bullough, Bonnie (1993) Cross-dressing, Sex, and Gender (Philadelphia, University of
Pennsylvania Press).
Butler, Judith (1993) Bodies that Matter: On the discursive limits of ‘sex’ (New York, Routledge).
Castells, Manuel (1983) The City and the Grassroots (Berkeley, University of California Press).
Cochran, Bryan, Stewart, Angela & Ginzler, Joshua (2002) Challenges Faced by Homeless Sexual
Minorities: Comparison of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender homeless adolescents with their
heterosexual counterparts, American Journal of Public Health, 92(5), pp. 773–777.
Conway, Lynn (2002) Prevalence of Transsexualism. Available at http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/
conway/TS/TSprevalence.html (accessed 28 July 2005).
Transgendered Perceptions of Urban Space 71
Currah, Paisley, Minter, Shannon & Green, Jamison (2000) Transgender Equality: A handbook for activists
and policymakers (Washington, DC, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Publications).
Day, Kristen (1999) Embassies and Public Sanctuaries: Women’s experiences of race and fear in public
space, Environment and Planning D: Society and Self, 17, pp. 307–328.
Doan, Petra (2001) Are the Transgendered the Mine Shaft Canaries of Urban Areas?, Planners Network,
March/April. Available at http://www.plannersnetwork.org/htm/pub/archives/146/Doan.html.
DSM-IV. (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, 4th Edition (Washington, DC,
American Psychiatric Association).
Faderman, Lillian (1991) Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A history of lesbian life in twentieth century America
(New York, Columbia University Books).
Fausto-Sterling, Ann (2000) Sexing the Body: Gender politics and the construction of sexuality (New York,
Basic Books).
Feinberg, Leslie (1996) Transgendered Warriors: From Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman (Boston, Beacon Press).
Feinbloom, Deborah (1976) Transvestites and Transsexuals—Mixed Views (New York, Delacorte Press).
Forsyth, Ann (1997a) Out in the Valley, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 21, pp. 38–62.
Forsyth, Ann (1997b) NoHo: Upscaling Main Street on the metropolitan edge, Urban Geography, 18(7),
pp. 622–652.
Forsyth, Ann (2001) Sexuality and Space: Nonconformist populations and planning practice, Journal of
Planning Literature, 15, pp. 339–358.
Gagne´, Patricia, Tewksbury, Richard & McGaughey, Deanna (1997) Coming Out and Crossing Over:
Identity formation and proclamation in a transgendered community, Gender and Society, 11(4),
pp. 478–508.
Governing Council of the American Public Health Association (1999) ‘The Need for Acknowledging
Transgendered Individuals within Research and Clinical Practice’, American Public Health Associa-
tion, Public Policy Statement 9933. Available at: http://www.apha.org/legislative/policy/policy
pdf1.pdf.
Green, Jamison (2004) Becoming a Visible Man (Nashville, Vanderbilt University Press).
Harris, Liz & Crocker, Elizabeth (1997) An introduction to sustaining femme gender, in: Harris Liz &
Crocker Elizabeth (Eds) Femme: Feminists, lesbians, and bad girls, pp. 1–12 (New York, Routledge).
Hemmings, Clare (2002) Bisexual Spaces: A geography of sexuality and gender (New York, Routledge).
Ingram, Gordon, Bouthillette, Anne-Marie & Ritter, Yolanda (Eds) (1997) Queers in Space: Communities,
public places, and sites of resistance (Seattle, Bay Press).
Jacobs, Sue-Ellen & Cromwell, Jason (1992) Visions and Revisions of Reality: Reflections on sex,
sexuality, gender, and gender variance, Journal of Homosexuality, 23(4), pp. 43–69.
Jagose, Annamarie (1996) Queer Theory: An introduction (New York, New York University Press).
Kenagy, Gretchen (2005) Transgender Health: Findings from two needs assessment studies in
Philadelphia, Health and Social Work, 30(1), pp. 19–26.
Koyami, Emi (n.d.) Goals of Camp Trans, The Michigan Trans Controversy Archive, Available at http://
eminism.org/michigan/faq-protest.html (accessed December 2004).
Lauria, M. & Knopp, L. (1985) Toward an Analysis of the Role of Gay Communities in the Urban
Renaissance, Urban Geography, 6, 152–150.
Lombardi, E., Wilchins, R., Priesing, D. & Malouf, D. (2001) Gender Violence: Transgender experiences
with violence and discrimination, Journal of Homosexuality, 42(1), pp. 89–101.
Mackenzie, Gordene (1994) Transgender Nation (Bowling Green, Bowling Green State University).
Meyerowitz, Joanne (2002) How Sex Changed: A history of transsexuality in the United States (Cambridge,
MA, Harvard University Press).
Namaste, Ki (1996) Gender Bashing: Sexuality, gender, and the regulation of public space, Environment
and Planning D: Society and Self, 14, pp. 221–240.
Namaste, Vivianne (2000) Invisible Lives: The erasure of transsexual and transgendered people (Chicago,
University of Chicago).
Nast, HeidiJ. (2002) Queer Patriarchies, Queer Racisms, International, Antipode, 34(5), pp. 874–909.
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (n.d.) The Issues: Nondiscrimination, (Washington, DC, Policy
Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force). Available at http://www.thetaskforce.org/
theissues/issue.cfm?issueID ¼ 18 (accessed 2 August 2005).
Pain, Rachel (1991) Space, Sexual Violence, and Social Control: Integrating geographical and feminist
analyses of women’s fear of crime, Progress in Human Geography, 15, pp. 415–431.
Peace, Robin (2001) Producing lesbians, canonical properties, in: David Bell, Jon Binnie, Ruth Holliday
& Robyn Longhurst (Eds) Pleasure Zones: Bodies, cities, spaces, pp. 29–54 (Syracuse, Syracuse
University Press).
72 P. L. Doan
Peake, Linda (1993) Race and Sexuality: Challenging the patriarchal structuring of urban social space,
Environment and Planning D: Society and Self, 11, pp. 415–432.
Pfafflin, F. & Junge, A. (1992) Sex Reassignment: Thirty years of international follow-up studies after SRS—a
comprehensive review 1961–1991, Stuttgart, Schattauer). In German, English translation available at:
http:/209.143.139.183/ijtbooks/pfafflin/1000.asp.
Podmore, Julie (2001) Lesbians in the Crowd: Gender, sexuality, and visibility along Montreal’s
Boulevard St-Laurent, Gender, Place, and Culture, 8(4), pp. 333–355.
Rees, Mark (1996) Becoming a man: the personal account of a female to male transsexual, in: Richard
Ekins & Dave King (Eds) Blending Genders: Social aspects of cross-dressing and sex-changing, pp. 27–38
(London, Routledge).
Rothblatt, Martine (1995) The Apartheid of Sex: A manifesto on the freedom of gender (New York, Crown).
Rothenberg, Tamar (1995) ‘And she told two friends’: lesbians creating urban social space, in: David
Bell & Gill Valentine (Eds) Mapping Desire: Geographies of sexualities, pp. 165–181 (London,
Routledge).
Rushbrook, Derek A. (2002) Cities, Queer Space, and the Cosmopolitan Tourist, GLQ: A journal of lesbian
and gay studies, 8(1&2), pp. 183–206.
Soja, Edward (2000) Postmetropolis: Critical studies of cities and regions (Oxford, Blackwell Publishers).
Stone, Sandy (1991) The ‘empire’ strikes back: a posttranssexual manifesto, in: Katrina Straub & Julia
Epstein (Eds) Bodyguards: The cultural politics of gender ambiguity (New York, Routledge).
Stryker, Susan (2004) Transgender Activism, Online Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Available at
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/transgender_activism.html (accessed 30 July 2005).
Stuart, Kim (1991) The Uninvited Dilemma: A question of gender, a researched look into the myths and real-life
experience of transsexuals (Portland, OR, Metamorphous Press).
Taylor, Affrica (1998) Lesbian space: more than one imagined territory, in: Rosa Ainley (Ed.)
New Frontiers of Space, Bodies, and Gender, pp. 129–141 (London, Routledge).
Taywaditep, K. J. (2001) Marginalization among the Marginalized: Gay men’s anti-effeminacy
attitudes, Journal of Homosexuality, 42(1), pp. 1–28.
Tsoi, W. F. (1988) The Prevalence of Transsexualism in Singapore, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavian, 78,
pp. 501–504.
Valentine, Gill (1989) The Geography of Women’s Fear, Area, 21, pp. 385–390.
Valentine, Gill (1993) Heterosexing Space: Lesbian perceptions and experiences of everyday space,
Environment and Planning D, Society and Self, 11, pp. 395–413.
Valentine, Gill (1995) Out and About: Geographies of lesbian landscapes, International Journal of Urban
and Regional Research, 19, pp. 96–111.
Valentine, Gill (1996) (Re)negotiating the ‘heterosexual street’: lesbian productions of space,
in: Nancy Duncan (Ed.) Body Space: Destabilizing geographies of gender and sexuality, pp. 146–155
(New York, Routledge).
Valentine, Gill (2000) From Nowhere to Everywhere: Lesbian geographies (New York, Harrington
Park Press).
Van Kesteren, P.J.M, Asscheman, H., Megens, J.A.J & Gooren, L.J.G (1997) Mortality and morbidity in
transsexual subjects treated with cross-sex hormones, Clinical Endrocrinology, 47, pp. 337–342.
Weinberg, Martin S., Shaver, Frances & Williams, Colin (1999) Gendered Sex Work in the San Francisco
Tenderloin, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 28, pp. 503–520.
Whittle, Stephen (1996) Gender fucking or fucking gender: current cultural contributions to theories of
gender bending, in: Richard Ekins & Dave King (Eds) Blending Genders: Social aspects of cross-dressing
and sex-changing, pp. 196–214 (London, Routledge).
Whittle, Stephen (2002) Respect and Equality: Transsexual and transgender rights (London, Cavendish
Publishing Co).
Wilchins, Riki (2004) Queer Theory, Gender Theory: An instant primer (Los Angeles, Alyson Books).
Wilchins, Riki (n.d.) Transexual Menace Philosophy, Transexual Menace International Homepage,
Available at http://www.helenavelena.com/tsmenace/menacephd.htm (accessed December 2004).
Witten, Tarynn & Eyler, Evan (1999) Anti-transgendered Violence: The ‘invisible’ human rights
violation, Peace Review: An International Quarterly.
Wolfe, Maxine (1997) Invisible women in invisible places: the production of social space in lesbian bars,
in: Gordon Ingram, Anne-Marie Bouthillette & Yolanda Ritter (Eds) Queers in Space: Communities,
public places, and sites of resistance, pp. 301–323 (Seattle, Bay Press).
Xavier, J. M. (2000) Final Report of the Transgender Need Assessment Survey, Unpublished Report.
Transgendered Perceptions of Urban Space 73
ABSTRACT TRANSLATION
Los queers en la ciudad americana: las percepciones
transgenerizados de los espacios urbanos
Resumen E
´
ste papel explora las relaciones complejas entre gente
transgenerizada y ciudades en los Estados Unidos, y en particular, sus
relaciones con espacios queer en e´stas ciudades. Algunos han argumentado que
los espacios queer existen en los margines de la sociedad y constituyen un refugio
seguro para la gente lesbiana, gay, bisexual o transgenerizada que es oprimido por
el cara´cter hetero-normativo de a´reas urbanas. El resultado de una encuesta con
149 individuos transgenerizados indica que aunque estos espacios hace una
medida de proteccio´ n limitada para gente de variante ge´nero, el cara´cter
generizado de e´stos espacios tienen todavı ´a como resultado niveles altos de acoso
y violencia contra e´sta gente. La autora argumenta que las dimensiones
generizadas fuertes de e´stos espacios sugieren que se necesite una modificacio´ n
discursiva de ge´nero para crear espacios urbanos ma´s amistoso para gente
transgenerizada
PALABRAS CLAVES: Espacio queer; transge´nero; variante de ge´nero; la seguridad
urbana
74 P. L. Doan

Sponsor Documents

Or use your account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Forgot your password?

Or register your new account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link to create a new password.

Back to log-in

Close