Coalition Building with Intersectional Identities

Abstract

As Nagoshi and Brzuzy (2010) note, “beyond empowerment, transgender theory provides an alternative to feminist and queer theories in addressing the thorny issue of coalition building for social activism in an intersectional world.” Unpacking the theoretical implications, as well as complex intersectionalities, in the lived experiences of people of the trans experience across the continuum paints a complex relational matrix contributing to both the need for and potential demise of organizing efforts. These complexities, combined with the prejudice and trans-phobic discrimination of the feminist and queer movements, lesbian, gay, and bisexual communities, and mainstream society create a perfect storm for which true social change remains a great need with few evidence based models to guide practice. This chapter will examine the implications of feminist, queer, and transgender/trans-identity conceptualizations of the nature of identity as they relate to social activism to oppose oppression. We will start by providing an introduction to the work of activism, then unpack theoretical concepts of public versus private identities, discuss oppression as it relates to coalition building among trans individuals, implications of coalition building as it relates to the risk of loss of individual identity, as well as implications for the greater transgender populations as a whole community. Discussions will emphasize the intersectionalities identities of trans individuals, empowerment, as well as building coalitions based on socially constructed oppressed identities.

By Robert Hess III