Francisco FERNÁNDEZ ROMERO, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Geographers have been researching trans individuals over the past fifteen years, albeit often through frameworks developed to study cisgender LGBQ individuals. I propose that trans studies could contribute to the geographical study of trans experiences and would themselves benefit from engaging with spatial perspectives. In this paper, I aim to illustrate some potential mutual contributions between both fields. To this end, I present a case study on trans women and travestis’ exclusion from public spaces in Buenos Aires due to anti-trans legislation and policing in recent history. This case study, which is part of my PhD research, is based on field and archival research, and draws from Latin American, anglophone, and francophone trans studies and geographical theories.
On the one hand, I mobilize trans theory and practice to analyze how public space is produced and regulated in a trans-exclusionary fashion. I focus on the concepts of cissexism and of anti-trans administrative violence, and on work by trans and travesti activists in Buenos Aires which shows how police persecution on the city's streets has impacted their everyday lives. Conversely, I show how a spatial framework can further trans studies’ aim to understand trans people’s living conditions. I draw from the mobilities turn to understand how and why exclusion from public spaces shapes trans women’s and travestis’ daily lives: restrictions on their mobility not only hinder access to different places across the city, but also preclude the enjoyment and the social interactions which can materialize within mobility practices themselves.
In sum, geography could play a key role in supporting the work of trans studies scholars who call to prioritize research on trans individuals’ living conditions and the systems of oppression that affect them, while trans studies could guide the discipline towards research agendas which are more relevant to these communities themselves.
Mots clés : urban geography|mobilities|socio-spatial exclusion|trans|gender
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