In this first chapter I explain the methodology, which I argue is itself a key finding of this research. I begin with outlining my ethical framework for a specifically trans methodology. This framework centers around four elements: that the research is done entirely within the communities; that if interviews are used they center the voices of trans people in their own words; that the research is written up in a trans style (which I describe in more detail later in this chapter); and that the research is disseminated back into the communities in an accessible way. This is a methodology that I hope to continue developing and improving throughout my career. I conclude the chapter by theorizing the role of autoethnography in trans studies generally and in this work specifically, using the work of Ellis, Boylorn and Orbe, Chang, Adams, Gergen and Gergen, and Jones to craft what I call an autoethnography of always.

Toward a trans methodology

One of the key aims of this book is to identify what ethics and practices might make up a specifically trans research methodology. I argue that the first feature of such a methodology is that the research is done entirely within the communities, which is to say that it is done by trans people. It is my firm belief that the only ethical body of scholarship regarding a marginalized group can be constructed by and within that group. It is possible that there are exceptions to this rule but only by cis scholars who collaborate closely and fully with trans colleagues and have a deep reflexive understanding of their own privilege. While not an exact corollary I am inspired by Black, indigenous, and other scholars of color researching and creating scholarship on race. In ‘The Imperial Scholar: Reflections on a Review of Civil Rights Literature’, legal scholar and one of the founders of critical race theory Richard Delgado states: