Feminism against Cisness

by Emma Heaney

This kind of history has been crucial. As someone who realized they were trans because of a history of sexuality class, I fully appreciate that the kinds of work I’ve just described push back against the ways trans people have been rendered invisible and against the ways history often masquerades as an authority to be used against us. Clearly, if powerful people are trying to tell us that we were invented too recently for protective laws to have any bearing on our lives, except potentially to protect people from us in bathrooms, then it remains a necessary part of trans history to tell trans stories. It’s also not enough and, on its own, wielded by anti-trans actors, has the capacity to do significant damage.