Policing (trans)gender : Trans and gender diverse interactions with the Australian criminal legal system since the twentieth century

This thesis examines the history of trans and gender diverse experiences in the Australian criminal legal system throughout the twentieth century and into the present day. By tracing the developments of trans and gender diverse history in relation to the criminal legal system in Australia across this broad period, this thesis explores the policing and regulation of gender in a range of forms and settings. It looks at the policing of gender nonconforming behaviour and presentation such as arrests of ‘masqueraders’ in the early decades of the twentieth century, policing of transgender sex work in Kings Cross and Darlinghurst from the 1970s, parliamentary debates in the 1980s around providing gender affirming care to transgender inmates, and modern trans and gender diverse policing and incarceration issues. Alongside these themes, this thesis traces the shifting discourses since the turn of the twentieth century around gender diversity – from narratives around so-called ‘sexual deviance’ to present-day debates over trans and gender diverse rights and inclusion. Throughout this period, understandings of what gender diversity is and what it means to be transgender have changed dramatically. However, the existence of gender diversity has consistently challenged assumptions and exposed flaws built into the criminal legal system. While these flaws do not only impact trans and gender diverse people, gender diversity provides a critical lens for interrogating many mechanisms of the criminal legal system to understand who they work for, and who they work against. By examining these shifts, this thesis aims to provide an overview of an under-researched aspect of Australian crime history and analyse the ways that the policing of gender is intertwined with the development of Australian trans and gender diverse history and the past and present mechanisms of the criminal legal system.