'Playing Two People': Exploring Trans Women's Experiences in Sex Work

Abstract

When not invisibilized in society, transgender women are subject to pervasive transphobia in the social sphere and encounter devastating discrimination across the institutions. In light of discrimination in the mainstream job market, many look to the sex industry for a source of income. In fact, trans women have long ties to the sex work community and have been foundational to the sex workers rights movement, engaging in activism predating Stonewall. Yet, the experiences of trans women who sell sex remain largely overlooked in historical retellings and social science research on sex work. By creating space for the voices of those who have long gone unheard – conducting in-depth interviews with seven transgender women who sell sex – this thesis seeks to move beyond the dominant narrative of sex workers and bring greater attention to their unique experiences. This thesis explores the experiences of trans women in sex work as it relates to their labour practices and processes, engagement with the criminal justice system, and health and access to health and social services. Challenging the ways in which norms have been produced and sustained under the guise of ‘truth’, this thesis applies the concepts intersectionality and stigma to explore how experience is conditioned by the environment of oppression – at the intersection of sexism and cisgenderism – and the social judgment and marginalization of sex workers. Alongside navigating through the hardships associated with the criminalization and stigmatization of sex work, trans women who sell sex are subject to intensified violence, discrimination and oppression on the basis of gender. Amidst the height of the trans rights movement and in light of the recent amendments to federal legislation that protects trans Canadians from discrimination, this thesis considers what is warranted to achieve social change. Reflecting on history and looking to the future, it is imperative that the trans and sex worker communities forge stronger bonds in their battle for rights.