Spilling the T? How emotions shape the construction of transness in LGBTQI+ activism

LGBTQI+ mobilizations are historically characterized by internal differences, exemplifying the quintessential debates over inclusion/exclusion dynamics in social movements (Gamson, 1995). Since the 2000s, some activists opted for more assimilationist perspectives by calling for integration within the cishetero majority (Bernstein, 1997; Ghaziani et al., 2016). Moreover, the growing phenomenon of anti-gender politics against gender equality, LGBTQI+ rights, and reproductive rights challenge the possibilities for LGBTQI+ activism (Kuhar & Paternotte, 2017). Especially the growing attacks against trans people pressure the dynamics within LGBTQI+ activism, restirring fissures between trans people and other queers (Spade, 2004). As some LGB organizations collaborate with religious organizations, far right actors, and TERFs to oppose trans rights (Bassi & LaFleur, 2022), we observe an update of the temptation of prioritizing portions of LGBTQI+ people at the expense of others, a tendency that risks spilling, even dropping, the T. Other LGBTQI+ actors resist transantagonism and act in defence of trans rights. Yet, this context might make even harder to address the erasure of the specificities of trans lives, risking the collapse of the T within LGBTQI+ (Bey, 2021). In turn, we rely on affect theory and trans studies to research the role of emotions within LGBTQ+ activisms, and how activists delineate an “us” and “them” (Jasper, 2011; 2018) related to the T. Subsequently, we ask how the interweaving of discourses and emotions shape the construction of transness related to LGBTQI+ activism. We draw on 7 focus groups conducted with LGBTQI+ activists (n=30) in Belgium designed to foster interactions around movement belonging and guided by the idea that politics is collectively talked about (Gamson, 1992). We encouraged participants to converse freely and informally, even “spilling the tea.” We apply a conversational analysis on the excerpts where trans phenomena were brought up in relation to LGBTQI+ activism (Edwards & Potter, 1992; Wiggins, 2017). Thus, we shed light on hope of trans autonomy, fear for trans lives at the risk of stripping them of autonomy, and underlying tensions regarding the hierarchisation of priorities within LGBTQI+ activism.