The Trans 100 is intended to provide a broad and diverse look into the trans community, not to impose labels or provoke arguments over language and definitions. As such, anyone who self-identifies as trans – whatever that word means to them – will be eligible for inclusion on The Trans 100.
For additional thoughts on defining trans, see the ‘Rationales’ section below.
Open Nominations
All those listed on the Trans 100 and in the Breakout sections come from nominations provided by the community. Nominations are anonymous and individuals may nominate themselves. Anyone – whether or not they themselves are trans – may nominate individuals for inclusion on The Trans 100.
Nominations may be made via an online web form from mid-December to mid-January each year, for the annual list release the following March.
The Standards
The key question to ask is this: What is this nominee doing to make life better for the trans community?
All nominees must:
- Self-identify as trans.
- Be actively working to improve the lives of trans people.
- Live in the United States.
- Not have appeared in previous editions of The Trans 100.
We particularly encourage the nomination of individuals who:
- Are doing work that is unsung and/or unseen.
- Are working in areas of multiple intersections of power and privilege.
- Live outside of major population centers (New York, Los Angeles, etc).
The Trans 100 places special consideration on those working in the areas of ostracism elimination, stigma reduction, poverty reduction, furthering the social and economic development of the trans community, and building infrastructure within the trans community.
Nominees can be working at any scale, locally, regionally, or nationally.
The Rationales
Identifying as Trans
The Trans 100 is open to any individual who self-identifies as trans, regardless of how they specifically define that word for themselves. That said, we use the following as a working definition:
Transness is the state of awareness or condition in society of someone who does not conform in a majority of aspects to the way their society or culture sees them as behaving and living in relation to their culture’s social construction of physiological sex, usually due to a variance between their physical sex and one or both of their social sex identity and/or internal sex identity.
It exists at the same level as awareness of self, and it is, itself, an awareness.
This is a list of trans people. While we appreciate and celebrate the work done by our countless allies, The Trans 100 does not focus on their work.
Doing Active Work
The Trans 100 is intended to highlight individuals doing active work for and in the trans community. As such, all nominees should be making a tangible difference in the day to day lives of trans people. That means that whatever work they are doing, it has to be significantly related to changing things for the better for the trans community.
We seek to highlight the work of both established activists and those who are up and coming, and we want to highlight the diversity of the trans population. This is an important aspect of The Trans 100: It is not a list of the “best,” or a ranking of those included on the list. Rather, it is a cross-section of the community; a selection of some of the people who are doing important work right now.
We do not expect to include individuals who have passed away or retired from active participation in the trans community. However, there is an open text field in the nomination form for why a particular nominee should be included; if you feel an individual who has passed away or retired is nevertheless worthy of inclusion, please feel free to share your thoughts.
Curating
Once nominations are closed, generally mid-January each year, the process of curating the 100 begins.
Curators are selected for diversity in age, ethnicity, service, creed, philosophy, outlook, experience, race, and more, providing a spectrum of people who represent the diversity of the trans community in microcosm. The number of curators varies according to the number of nominees. All curators are themselves trans people engaged in the work that is being looked at and highlighted.
Curators are anonymous. They may announce their positions as curators after the release of The Trans 100, but the Trans 100 Team will neither confirm nor deny their participation.
Curators do independent research on a selection of nominees provided by the Trans 100 team. They do so as part of a private working group that changes on a yearly basis. The research is compiled and used by the full team. The research is focused on the positive contributions of each nominee, without regard to ego, interpersonal issues, philosophical approach, or contributions outside the time frame of the previous year.
Each curator anonymously votes for each nominee.
Each nominee must be doing work that meets the criteria in the judgment of the curators as a collective team. Unanimity in voting is not required, and each nominee’s votes are tallied separately.
Following the voting process, the Trans 100 Team assembles the Trans 100 selectees and any breakout groups.
Selectees
Selectees are approached privately, via email, after selection for inclusion in both the Trans 100 and the Breakouts groups. They will be asked to confirm their information, accept or decline inclusion, provide an image for publication, write a brief description of the work they do, and provide two links plus optional social media contact information.
Some nominees decline to be included on the Trans 100 , and no one is placed on the 100 without their express consent.
Release
The Trans 100 will be released each year on the International Trans Day of Visibility, which is held each year on March 31st. We encourage the development of local celebrations in cities and towns across the country and world to join us for the release event, which will be broadcast via the Internet, and will open with the release of the Trans 100 publication.
The publication will be made available simultaneously on multiple websites for access by the general public.
The Publication will include all the breakout groups and the Trans 100 in full.
Following the release, it begins again.