The Normate Circle: Notes on Trans Stigma

Abstract: In the United States, trans people face a mounting crisis as their rights, safety, and access to healthcare are threatened in a near-daily onslaught of anti-trans legislation, court decisions, and violence. The crisis has arguably reached a new critical point after the years 2023 and 2024—a flashpoint which provides a unique moment for considering the nature of trans stigma, the management of trans populations, and the consequences for relying on the carceral state for protection. From the diverse fields of social psychology, critical feminism, and queer disability studies, this essay proposes what the author terms “the normate circle,” a framework for visualizing the myth of the normate and the intersectionality/assemblage of stigmatized populations. Using the normate circle’s visual representations, this essay outlines the functions of trans stigma, the nature of biopolitics and population management, and the fraud of carceral protectionism. I conclude with some potential uses of the normate circle for scholars, teachers, and social justice workers and end with a call to reject the carceral state’s deceptive offer of protection and instead turn toward feminist abolitionist and coalitional politics.