ABSTRACT
There is little doubt the investigation and detailing of trans* individuals, embodiments, and communities has a robust legacy throughout various disciplines, including psychiatry, medicine, law, English, and philosophy, among others. In fact, the study of gender variance has even generated its own field of study: transgender studies (Stryker & Whittle, 2006). Regardless of the venue, the wealth of theoretical and research-based interdisciplinary scholarship suggests two themes. First, gender as an organizing principle for trans* individuals to make meaning of their lives is not a passing fancy. As stated by Jennifer Finney Boylan (2003), “Gender is many things, but one thing it is surely not is a hobby. Being [trans*] is not something you do because it’s clever or postmodern, or because you’re a deluded, deranged narcissist” (p. 22; italics in original). Second, although many have written about trans* identities from a variety of perspectives and in multiple academic disciplines, there remains a dearth of such research emanating from the field of higher education. Furthermore, most of the scant amount of scholarship on trans* college students in higher education and student affairs is nonempirical and/or centers on a deficiency discourse that situates trans* individuals as victims of violence, harm, harassment, ostracism, and/or performing worse than their cisgender peers across various measures and indicators.
