Trans Across Generations: Shifts in Narratives of Gender, Transphobic Violence, and Community Support

Abstract

The increased visibility, legal protections, and the affirmative paradigm of care have changed the living conditions of transgender people in liberal areas in the United States. Grounding our investigation in an intersectional framework (Ben Hagai et al., 2020), we ask how transgender people of different generations describe their gender identity, experience of oppression, and engage with community support. An in-depth analysis of 28 interviews with racially diverse, predominantly low-income, transgender participants living in the San Francisco Bay Area indicates a shifting understanding of trans identity across generations. Transgender participants who are part of the Baby Boomer generation described their gender as a journey that begins with gender dissonance and ends with an expression of one’s true gendered self. The participants of the Millennial generation used a narrative in which their gender was a space to be explored without a particular desired endpoint. Participants of both generations reported transphobic abuse, but those of the older generation experienced more violence and felt less agency combating family abuse; older participants tended to engage with the LGBTQ + community more than younger participants who relied on peer support. These findings can assist therapists, doctors, and educators in better serving trans people by providing inclusive care that affirms different ways of being trans across generational cohorts.