Congress Paper Abstract

Reframing the “Center” to Expand Civil Rights

JAMISON GREEN, MMU SCHOOL OF LAW, GENDER EDUCATION & ADVOCACY, TRANSGENDER LAW & POLICY INSTITUTE

The bipolar model of sexuality and gender expression limits us to two types of bodies: male and female; two types of sexuality: heterosexuality and homosexuality; and two types of gender expression: masculine and feminine. This view of what is central in our society marginalizes those who don’t fit, inciting people to take positions of moral superiority that the author believes are damaging to human and civil rights, indeed, damaging to the human spirit. This paper postulates that if the diversity of people living in the “in-between” zones of sex and gender were valued over mono-sexual exclusion, many of the “isms” that plague modern society could be alleviated, and civil rights for all would be more easily attainable.

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