Abstract
In this chapter Lugo-Lugo and Bloodsworth-Lugo examine contemporary articulations of sexuality and gender as entities that require vigilance. For this, they use the figure of Amanda Simpson, President Obama’s appointee to the position of senior technical advisor within the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, and a white, out transgender woman, as their starting point. The authors examine how Simpson became uniquely positioned between mainstream reactions to transgender women and a specific set of 9/11 American anxieties involving perceived threats to the safety and security of “America” and its citizenry. By becoming the first transgender appointee within the first black presidency, Simpson’s appointment became a double threat in an era where Americans have been trained to seek out and identify threats to the security of the nation.
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Bloodsworth-Lugo, M.K., Lugo-Lugo, C.R. (2017). (Trans)Gender Threats in a 9/11 Era. In: Feminism after 9/11. Breaking Feminist Waves. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54582-4_6
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