CRIMINALIZATION OF BLACK TRANS INDIVIDUALS FOR SEX WORK

<p>This study examines the intersection of systemic racism and transphobia in the criminal legal</p><p>system by analyzing the criminalization of Black trans individuals for sex work. While doing</p><p>so I explain how the stigmatization and policing of Black trans sex workers reflects racist</p><p>transphobic fictionalizations of Black and trans bodies as inherently sexually deviant. I further</p><p>explain how these fictions are rooted in the U.S.'s history of White supremacist colonization.</p><p>After recording transcribing and analyzing the oral histories of four Black trans individuals</p><p>who have been criminalized for sex work I discern four main themes regarding their experiences</p><p>and insights. These themes include patterns of systemic racism and transphobia that increase</p><p>their likelihood of relying on sex work for survival direct forms of violence perpetrated by</p><p>agents of the criminal legal system indirect forms of violence perpetrated by the system and the</p><p>various institutional social and political changes necessary to secure the safety and rights of</p><p>Black trans sex workers. This study reveals the criminal legal system as an institution which</p><p>functions less as an arbiter for justice than an institution that forwards the biopolitical interests</p><p>of hegemonic society. By disciplining non-heteronormative bodies in this case those of Black</p><p>trans sex workers the criminal legal system reinforces White cis-heteropatriarchal dominance</p><p>and maintains marginalized communities' positions at the bottom of the social hierarchy.</p>