Contested terrain of a barely scratched surface: Exploring the formation of alliances between trans activists and labor, feminist and gay and lesbian organizing

Within the past decade, there has been a steadily growing body of literature written by trans commentators and allies concerning the need for scholars and activists to acknowledge the existence of transsexual/transgender people, their lives and contributions to society. The bulk of this literature attempts to resolve the problem of erasure of trans people from academic debate, as well as from mainstream society by emphasizing trans identities.

This project contributes to debates concerning transsexuality/transgender by presenting a two-fold argument grounded within a historical materialist framework. First, trans people cannot be reduced to their sexed and gendered identities. Such a reduction affects academic theorizing of trans people and has negative implications for left-wing political organizing. Trans people and their experiences of oppression are mediated by other relations of power within contemporary capitalist society. Therefore, it is essential that research on the oppression of trans people focus on its systemic nature. It is necessary that scholars and activists analyze further how gender, race, class, ability and sexuality impact the lives of members of trans communities.

Second, I argue that efforts to achieve trans liberation must not be contained to human rights strategies. Since many trans people share oppression with other segments of society based on class, gender and sexuality, it is most advantageous for progressive activists to form anti-capitalist-racist-sexist projects that aim to eradicate the present system.

To illustrate these arguments this dissertation is based on contains six chapters. The first two chapters review academic commentary concerning trans people and their oppression. The first chapter reviews scholarship from various disciplines such as sexology, psychology, radical feminism, postmodern feminist and queer theory. The second chapter analyzes critically the response to the aforementioned literature by trans scholars and allies. The third, fourth and fifth chapters review the efforts of the English Canadian labor, gay and lesbian and feminist movements respectively to develop trans policies and politics within their organizations and beyond. The sixth chapter presents the history and present approaches to trans activism within trans communities in Toronto.