“The intersections of trans women and lesbian identities, communities, and movements”: An introduction

ABSTRACT

This introduction to the special issue on “The Intersections of Trans Women and Lesbian Identities, Communities, and Movements” considers the interconnectedness of “trans” and “lesbian” as identities and as concepts. Our approach challenges a reading of the two communities as largely separate and adversarial. In reviewing the articles included in this issue, we highlight places of intersection between the two identities, including the experiences of the individuals who live at the intersectional point: trans lesbians.

KEYWORDS:

• Lesbian community
• lesbians
• trans lesbians
• trans community
• trans women
• transgender

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Genny Beemyn

Guest editors

Genny Beemyn, Ph.D., is the Director of the Stonewall Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the Trans Policy Clearinghouse coordinator for Campus Pride. Their many books include The Lives of Transgender People (2011) and A Queer Capital: A History of Gay Life in Washington, D.C. (2014). They are currently working on a book entitled Campus Queer: The Experiences and Needs of LGBTQ+ College Students (Johns Hopkins University Press) and an anthology entitled Outside the Gender Box: Trans and Non-Binary Gender People in Higher Education (SUNY Press).

Mickey Eliason

Mickey Eliason, Ph.D., is a Professor of Health Education at San Francisco State University with 30 years of experience in LGBTQ health scholarship. She recently completed one of the first health intervention studies of a holistic health program for older LBQ women funded by the federal Office on Women's Health. She has over 100 journal articles and four books on LGBTQ health.