Unlivable Lives: Violence and Identity in Transgender Activism

288 Pages·2021·3.231 MB·English

by  Laurel Westbrook

Unlivable Lives

Unlivable Lives
Violence and Identity in Transgender Activism
Laurel Westbrook
University of California Press
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2021 by Laurel Westbrook
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Westbrook, Laurel, 1980– author.
Title: Unlivable lives : violence and identity in transgender activism /
Laurel Westbrook.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2021]
| Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020017642 (print) | LCCN 2020017643 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780520316584 (cloth) | ISBN 9780520316591 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780520974159 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Transgender people—Violence against—United States.
| Transgender people—Social aspects—United States. | Identity
politics—United States. | Gender identity—Political aspects—United
States. | Gender identity—Social aspects—United States. | Sexual
minorities—United States.
Classification: LCC HQ77.965.U6 W47 2021 (print) | LCC HQ77.965.U6
(ebook) | DDC 305.3—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020017642
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020017643
Manufactured in the United States of America
30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is for every woman who is terrified to be alone
in public, every person of color whose heart skips a beat
at the sight of a white person, every LGBQ person who
worries about being outed to the wrong person, and every
trans person who expresses their identity only in private,
fearing the consequences of being visibly trans. May your
lives become more livable.

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Abbreviations xv
1. Unlivable Lives: The Origins and Outcomes
of Identity- Based Anti- Violence Activism 1
2. Violence Matters: Producing Identity through
Accounts of Murder 18
3. Atypical Archetypes: The Causes and
Consequences of Famous Victims of Violence 36
4. Homogeneous Subjecthood: How Activists’
Focus on Identity Obscures Patterns
of Violence 61
5. Valuable and Vulnerable: How Activists’
Tactical Repertoires Shape Subjecthood
and Generate Fear 86
6. Shaping Solutions: How Identity Politics
Influences Violence- Prevention Efforts 124
7. Facilitating Livable Lives: Alternative
Approaches to Anti- Violence Activism 154
Appendix A: Transgender Anti- Violence Organizations 193
viii / Contents
Appendix B: Collecting Data on Murders
of Transgender People 201
Notes 209
References 247
Index 263
Illustrations
1. “Anti- Trans Murder: Over One a Month” 68
2. Reproduction of last page of GenderPAC, 50 under 30 95
3. “Trans Murder Statistics 1970 to 2004” 105
4. Number of murders of transgender people per year
in the United States, 1990–2009 112
5. Murder rate in the United States, 1990–2015 160
6. Number of murders of transgender people per year
in the United States, 1990–2015 161
7. Trans Power poster 176
ix