On “Passing”
This guest post comes from Dr. Cary Gabriel Costello. Costello describes himself as “an academic and scaler of boundary walls, intersex by birth, female-reared, legally transitioned to male status, and pleased with my trajectory. Come journey with me. I blog about intersex issues at The Intersex Roadshow, and about trans issues” I hate the term “passing.” It’s used as a euphemism for death: “All were saddened at his passing.” I’m told I should be happy about “passing.” When used to refer to trans people, “passing” is defined as being accepted by others as a member of one’s identified sex, on the basis of appearance, mannerism and voice. Ever since my voice changed and my facial hair came in, I’ve been congratulated by others (both cis and trans) for being able to “pass,” despite my height and frame (I’m a mighty 5’2”). I’m told that I “pass pretty well” as a
The Source Summary reproduces the first 150 words of the source article unless a Collective editor has explicitly locked a replacement.
Why this article may matter
Community significance
“On “Passing”” may matter to community readers because it preserves a first-person or testimonial account connected to transgender identity and history, while also engaging violence, safety, and dehumanization. Such accounts can document how an issue was understood and experienced from within the period or community being discussed.
Historical significance
The article may have historical value because it explicitly interprets or preserves material concerning transgender identity and history. Published in 2011 by Transadvocate.com, it can be read both for the history it describes and as evidence of how violence, safety, and dehumanization was framed at that moment.
Policy significance
The article’s strongest policy connection is family law and child welfare and public accommodations and facilities. It links that institutional frame to transgender identity and history and violence, safety, and dehumanization, making it potentially useful for tracing how an argument moves from description or history into law, regulation, administration, or public practice.
Ranked themes and framings
Rank 1 is the dominant inferred theme or framing. Parent labels identify broader theme families; the relationship key beneath the diagram explains the line styles used for hierarchy, same-family relationships, overlap, and separate-but-related themes.
Themes
- 1Transgender identity and historyTheme family: Identity, culture, and community100%
- 2Violence, safety, and dehumanizationTheme family: Power, ideology, and social conflict57%
- 3Healthcare and medicineTheme family: Institutions, law, and public life49%
- 4Religion and moralityTheme family: Power, ideology, and social conflict41%
- 5Education and youthTheme family: Institutions, law, and public life38%
- 6Culture, identity, and representationTheme family: Identity, culture, and community35%
Academic framing
- 1100%
- 250%
- 333%
- 425%
Policy framing
- 1100%
- 275%
Editorial function
Source topics
- Separate but related themes
- Related theme in the same family
These classifications are inferred from article text and source metadata and remain directly editable. Relationship labels express corpus-analysis judgments, not immutable facts.
How “Transgender identity and history” appears across the Collective corpus
This article appeared 2 year(s) before the theme reached its highest annual presence in the registered corpus in 2013.
Relative presence by year
Peak year indexed to 100Presence by member publication
Frequently co-occurring concepts
- Community and organizing531
- Law and civil rights468
- Culture, identity, and representation320
- Education and youth308
- Media, rhetoric, and discourse260
- Healthcare and medicine248
- Violence, safety, and dehumanization238
- History, archives, and memory216
- Public policy and governance206
- Feminism and gender politics198
Academic framings in this topic
Policy framings in this topic
- Public accommodations and facilities177
- Civil rights and anti-discrimination173
- Criminal justice and public safety131
- Elections and democratic governance100
- Research ethics and data governance78
- Labor and employment policy52
- Administrative classification and identity documents39
- Housing and social services38
Values measure relative presence in the registered Collective corpus, not public search interest or public opinion.
Documented circulation and reception
7 source-held references record early links or citations; the documented sources span 6 distinct domains. The dated evidence currently spans 2011–2012. These observations describe circulation and reuse; they do not assign cultural worth or evaluate the communities, arguments, or people discussed.
Evidence by channel
Independent counts; bars are not additiveCoverage of the evidence search
Shows what has actually been checkedDocumented references over time
Dated source evidence currently stored by the CollectiveValentine Lovecraft The tyranny of "Passing" » Valentine Lovecraft
[...] here at transadvocate.com is an excellent article on the perils of passing, and the difficult history of the term. I can also [...]
We Need to Drop “Passing” from the Trans Lexicon « Amy Dentata
[...] For more on the history (and sometimes present state) of passing beyond the trans community, read this article from [...]
Doll Fight! Song Profile #1 – Trap! « Doll Fight!
[...] my own transition I didn’t always ‘pass’ as cis (I also hate the way “passing” often is discussed as a thing, hence the quotes, but that’s another article, sorry). I was [...]
On “Passing” | Gaysi
[...] way the author draws parallels with similar identity struggle. It has kept me thinking …via On “Passing” | The Transadvocate.Tags: confused, Culture, Featured, Gender, Homophobia, Internalisation, Transgender, [...]
Eating our own « A Bearded Gnome's Blog
[...] an incredible article on this subject on the Transadvocate’s website. The article is titled On “Passing” written by Dr Cary Gabriel Costello. I highly recommend it. One of the things he talks about is [...]
“So good to see you back on your feet, again!” in which I discuss the well-meaning but misinformed friend « OT on wheels
[...] I have been thinking about lately- that of “passing”. @ChristineBurns tweeted a link to an excellent deconstruction of the phenomenon of passing, by Dr Cary Gabriel Costello. It deals specifically with the phenomenon of “passing” as [...]
Valentine Lovecraft's Blog » The tyranny of “Passing”
[...] to pass you only make yourself more nervous and will be more likely read by anyone you meet. Now here http://www.transadvocate.com/on-passing.htm is an excellent article on the perils of passing, and the difficult history of the term. I can also [...]
Counts describe documented circulation and reception in the sources currently available to the Collective. They are not a score of quality, merit, popularity, or social value, and provider totals can overlap.
Author profiles and related researchers
Related authors in the Collective corpus
Cristan Williams
Connected through 1 citation link between registered publications. Shares registered themes including Transgender identity and history, Community and organizing, Culture, identity, and representation.
Admin
Shares registered themes including Transgender identity and history, Community and organizing, Culture, identity, and representation.
Cristan Williams
Shares registered themes including Transgender identity and history, Community and organizing, Culture, identity, and representation.
Mari
Shares registered themes including Transgender identity and history, Community and organizing, Culture, identity, and representation.
Autumn Sandeen
Shares registered themes including Transgender identity and history, Community and organizing, Culture, identity, and representation.
Gwen Smith
Shares registered themes including Transgender identity and history, Community and organizing, Culture, identity, and representation.
Related authors are calculated from co-authorship, shared themes and framings, and citation relationships in the registered corpus. This does not imply a personal or institutional association.
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