Papers by Max Strassfeld
In May 2013, the first intersex medical malpractice lawsuit was filed in the United States. “M.C.... more In May 2013, the first intersex medical malpractice lawsuit was filed in the United States. “M.C.,” the child named in the suit, was surgically assigned as a female at birth but M.C. later identified as a boy. His adoptive parents sued the state of South Carolina and the hospital that performed surgery on him as a baby. At present, when an infant is diagnosed with “ambiguous genitalia,” most surgeons perform cosmetic surgery to normalize the appearance of the child’s genitals. Our cultural logic dictates that there must be only two sexes. This, in turn, has meant that performing medically unnecessary surgeries on infants is preferable to tolerating bodies that do not conform to perceived notions of sex. Transgender and intersex activists have responded to the naturalization of two sexes by turning increasingly to canonical Jewish texts. Rabbinic literature treats at length a variety of sexed bodies, including the categories of male eunuchs, female eunuchs, and different types of and...
I n August 2013, H. Adam Ackley preached a sermon originally titled “The Genderqueer Gospel.” In ... more I n August 2013, H. Adam Ackley preached a sermon originally titled “The Genderqueer Gospel.” In the course of his sermon, Ackley publicly came out as transgender, drawing on canonical sources that supported his trans Christian theology, even citing conservative evangelical Pat Robertson’s support for trans Christians. At the time, Ackley was teaching at Azusa Pacific, an evangelical Christian comprehensive university that boasted among its trustees Raleigh Washington, a leader of the Promise Keepers. Azusa Pacific noted that it had policies against lesbian and gay relationships on campus, but it did not have a specific policy against transition in its professoriate. This lack did not, ultimately, protect Ackley; in response to Ackley’s request that the university honor his pronouns and new name, he was asked to leave his position. Asuza Pacific’s decision garnered national media coverage. As coeditors of this special issue of TSQ on trans/religion, we turned away many worthy manusc...
I n August 2013, H. Adam Ackley preached a sermon originally titled "The Genderqueer Gospel." In ... more I n August 2013, H. Adam Ackley preached a sermon originally titled "The Genderqueer Gospel." In the course of his sermon, Ackley publicly came out as transgender, drawing on canonical sources that supported his trans Christian theology, even citing conservative evangelical Pat Robertson's support for trans Christians. At the time, Ackley was teaching at Azusa Pacific, an evangelical Christian comprehensive university that boasted among its trustees Raleigh Washington, a leader of the Promise Keepers. 1 Azusa Pacific noted that it had policies against lesbian and gay relationships on campus, but it did not have a specific policy against transition in its professoriate. This lack did not, ultimately, protect Ackley; in response to Ackley's request that the university honor his pronouns and new name, he was asked to leave his position. Asuza Pacific's decision garnered national media coverage. 2 As coeditors of this special issue of TSQ on trans/religion, we turned away many worthy manuscripts because of space constraints, including several pieces that described the difficulties of building a professional life within the field of religious studies. Ackley's story is, unfortunately, not unique in our field. Employment discrimination against trans people is certainly not confined either to the academy or to Christian evangelical institutions specifically; nor does employment discrimination primarily impact white transmasculine professors. Still, we begin with Ackley's narrative to underscore that there can be particular tensions for those of us who teach while trans at seminaries or religious institutions. Many of our colleagues in religious studies are navigating complex dynamics in the classroom, in their research, and in their interactions with our field. The manufacturing of religion and trans as mutually antagonistic terms is well documented, and this antagonism has materially impacted our colleagues' professional lives. 3
Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion
TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly, 2016
This talk was written out of realizing that I was flying to AAR to give a talk on the androginos ... more This talk was written out of realizing that I was flying to AAR to give a talk on the androginos on the same day as the annual Trans Day of Remembrance
in Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community, Jan 1, 2010
Book Reviews by Max Strassfeld
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Papers by Max Strassfeld
Book Reviews by Max Strassfeld