Trans activism as transnational infrastructures of care: rethinking international law beyond recognition

This article examines the growing incorporation of gender and sexual diversity into international law through the consolidation of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) frameworks. While these developments have expanded the capacity of international law to recognise discrimination and violence against LGBTQIAPN+ populations, recognition-based approaches remain insufficient to address the material conditions shaping trans lives. Drawing on feminist theories of recognition, care, and social reproduction, as well as contemporary trans scholarship, the article develops an infrastructural approach to recognition by examining the material arrangements through which formally articulated rights become practically accessible. It argues that trans activism should be understood not merely as a rights-claiming movement but as the production of transnational infrastructures of care – material, affective, and organisational arrangements that sustain life across and beyond formal legal systems. Through an exploratory mapping of trans-led and trans-focused initiatives across multiple regions, the article identifies recurring patterns of redistribution, decentralisation, and cross-border coordination. These findings suggest that the conditions for livable life are frequently secured through community-based networks that operate beyond the institutional reach of international law, offering an alternative lens through which its limits and possibilities can be critically reimagined.