The current assault on transgender people in the United States seems relatively new, but in fact governments have been regulating the lives of transgender people for decades—from contradictory rules for sex classification to bans on Medicaid coverage to rules about gender-appropriate comportment. In this talk, Currah situates these legislative attacks within a longer history of (trans)gender governance.

Paisley Currah is a Professor of Political Science and Women’s Gender Studies at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.  He is the co-founder of the leading journal in transgender studies, TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. Currah’s book, Sex Is as Sex Does: Governing Transgender Identity, published last year by New York University Press, reveals the hidden logics that have governed sex classification policies in the United States in the past and shows what the regulation of transgender identity can tell us about society’s approach to sex and gender writ large.

The Center for Cultural Studies hosts a weekly Wednesday colloquium featuring work by faculty and visitors. We gather at 12:00 PM, with presentations beginning at 12:15 PM.

Please note: this is a hybrid event. To receive a link, please RSVP by 11 AM on the day of the colloquium, and you will receive the Zoom link and password at 11:30 AM.

Staff assistance is provided by The Humanities Institute.