From Visibility without Protection to Advancing Trans* Rights in Switzerland?

While trans* people have become more visible in the media and in news coverage in the past twenty years, they are still disproportionally affected by discrimination, stigmatization, and violence. Recent discriminatory bills in in the US are no exception, but rather an example of the current climate of growing transphobia. Here, I investigate the everyday experiences of trans* people in Switzerland, with a focus on interrogating the different ways trans* visibility is currently created, both by broader LGBTQI+- and by trans*-focused institutions. The article will provide a systematic review of the legal/social/health situation of trans* people in Switzerland and interrogate to what extend existing institutions succeed in increasing trans* visibility and advancing trans* rights. A participatory multi-method approach is used, consisting of document-based research, focus group discussions, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews. This article contributes to the emerging literature on trans* politics by interrogating the different strategies used to increase trans* visibility and their outcomes. Here, the overall aim is to identify effective methods to not only increase trans* visibility, but also advance trans* rights to ensure better protection for some of the most marginalized members of the LGBTQI+ community.