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Nine states' voter ID laws may create substantial barriers to voting and possible disenfranchisement for over 25,000 transgender voters this November. Strict photo ID states require voters to present government-issued photo identification in order to vote. Transgender voters who have transitioned from their assigned sex at birth to live full-time in a different gender face unique challenges to obtaining accurate government-issued identification. According to the new Williams Institute report, 41 percent of transgender citizens who have transitioned reported not having an updated driver's license and 74 percent did not have an updated U.S. passport. Moreover, 27 percent of transgender citizens who have transitioned reported that they had no identity documents or records that list their current gender. People of color, youth, students, those with low incomes, and respondents with disabilities are likely to be disproportionately impacted. The 25,000 transgender voters who will face these barriers would have otherwise been eligible to vote in the following nine states in the November 2012 general election: Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. All of these states have passed strict photo ID laws and could have them in place for the November election.

Nearly 300,000 transgender youth and adults may be negatively impacted by legislation introduced in 15 states. This report estimates the number of transgender people ages 13 and older in each of those states, including Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. These bills would limit access to single-sex restrooms and locker rooms at schools and in public places; limit protections based on gender identity; permit individuals and businesses to discriminate against transgender people based on religious and moral beliefs; and limit the ability to change certain vital records documents, such as birth certificates, or enforce the use of birth certificates to establish an individual's sex for certain purposes. The report includes a brief description of each bill, which age groups it would affect, and how many transgender people we estimate live in each state.

Transgender people—people whose gender identity or expression is different from their assigned sex at birth—and their allies advocate for the inclusion of gender identity or transgender in state non-discrimination policies. These policies generally proscribe discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Courts and administrative agencies have determined discrimination against transgender people is a violation of existing statutes, but there remain efforts by advocates to seek policies that explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of transgender status, which are often the result of legislation going through the political process. A pluralist understanding of the political process theorizes that a majority coalition of minorities can offer social groups policies they support. This rests on the presumption that a majority coalition of minorities should rule. Any indication to the contrary may suggest a democratic deficit, whereby more than a majority is necessary for policy introduction. We find that there is a substantial democratic deficit regarding the inclusion of gender identity or transgender in employment non-discrimination policies. On average, state support for the policy must be 81% in order for the state to have a policy reflecting such sentiment. This leaves substantial implications for the political powerlessness of transgender people in the political process.

Transgender people—people whose gender identity or expression is different from their assigned sex at birth—and their allies advocate for the inclusion of gender identity or transgender in state non-discrimination policies. These policies generally proscribe discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Courts and administrative agencies have determined discrimination against transgender people is a violation of existing statutes, but there remain efforts by advocates to seek policies that explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of transgender status, which are often the result of legislation going through the political process. A pluralist understanding of the political process theorizes that a majority coalition of minorities can offer social groups policies they support. This rests on the presumption that a majority coalition of minorities should rule. Any indication to the contrary may suggest a democratic deficit, whereby more than a majority is necessary for policy introduction. We find that there is a substantial democratic deficit regarding the inclusion of gender identity or transgender in employment non-discrimination policies. On average, state support for the policy must be 81% in order for the state to have a policy reflecting such sentiment. This leaves substantial implications for the political powerlessness of transgender people in the political process.

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Thinking beyond Hetero/Homo Normativities / Martínez-San Miguel, Yolanda / Tobias, Sarah -- Part I: Gender Boundaries within Educational Spaces -- 1. Creating a Gender-Inclusive Campus / Beemyn, Genny / Rankin, Susan R. -- 2. Transgendering the Academy: Ensuring Transgender Inclusion in Higher Education / Park, Pauline -- Part II: Trans Imaginaries -- 3. "I'll call him Mahood instead, I prefer that, I'm queer": Samuel Beckett's Spatial Aesthetic / Crawford, Lucas -- 4. Excruciating Improbability and the Transgender Jamaican / Valens, Keja -- 5. TRANScoding the Transnational Digital Economy / Chen, Jian -- Part III: Crossing Borders / Crossing Gender -- 6. When Things Don't Add Up: Transgender Bodies and the Mobile Borders of Biometrics / Beauchamp, Toby -- 7. Connecting the Dots: National Security, the Crime-Migration Nexus, and Trans Women's Survival / Butler Burke, Nora -- 8. Affective Vulnerability and Transgender Exceptionalism: Norma Ureiro in Transgression / Aizura, Aren Z. -- Part IV: Trans Activism and Policy -- 9. The T in LGBTQ: How Do Trans Activists Perceive Alliances within LGBT and Queer Movements in Québec (Canada)? / Chacha Enriquez, Mickael -- 10. Translatina Is about the Journey: A Dialogue on Social Justice for Transgender Latinas in San Francisco / Rodríguez de Ruíz, Alexandra / Ochoa, Marcia -- 11. LGB within the T: Sexual Orientation in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey and Implications for Public Policy / Herman, Jody L. -- Part V: Transforming Disciplines and Pedagogy -- 12. Adventures in Trans Biopolitics: A Comparison between Public Health and Critical Academic Research Praxes / Hwahng, Sel J. -- 13. Stick Figures and Little Bits: Toward a Nonbinary Pedagogy / Enke, A. Finn -- Conclusion: Trans Fantasizing: From Social Media to Collective Imagination / Martínez-San Miguel, Yolanda / Tobias, Sarah -- Notes on Contributors -- Index

This provocative collection showcases the work of emerging and established sociologists in the fields of sexuality and gender studies as they reflect on what it means to develop, practice, and teach queer methods. Located within the critical conversation about the possibilities and challenges of utilizing insights from humanistic queer epistemologies in social scientific research, Other, Please Specify presents to a new generation of researchers an array of experiences, insights, and approaches, revealing the power of investigations of the social world. With contributions from sociologists who have helped define queer studies and who use a range of interpretative and statistical methods, this volume offers methodological advice and practical strategies in research design and execution, all with the intent of getting queer research off the ground and building a collaborative community within this emerging subfield