Trans Lives in Patrolled Spaces: Stories of Precarity, Policing, and Policy in Washington, D.C.

During the period between 2000 and 2016, political advocacy and mobilization among trans residents in Washington, D.C. produced significant legal and policy changes in the city. The purpose of this study is to investigate how narrative practices around the lived experiences of trans residents have changed over this period, and whether and how these changes have reflected developments in legal and policy arenas. The project aims to illuminate how and when changes in storytelling and narrative elaboration have altered moral frameworks for evaluating trans folks’͛ experiences of precarity and victimization. Interviews and small group discussions with trans residents as well as police officers, city officials, and other authorities will be used to investigate these practices and explore how disclosive spaces emerge or fail to emerge in the presence of new laws and policies. This research aims at identifying those practices, patterns, and opportunities that provide trans residents and those charged with enforcing the city’s laws and regulations with opportunities for constructive narrative engagement and positive change.