Hey, I'm Jeffrey Masters and let's be blunt.

It is a very, very scary time right now for the trans community.

I don't think I need to list all the reasons why, all the attacks that are taking place.

But one stat that I think about a lot is that in 2020, there were just over 100 bills introduced

in the U.S. targeting LGBT people.

So that's 100 bills in 2020, right?

But in 2025, so far this year, there have already been 850 bills, the vast majority of which specifically target the trans community.

It's frightening, and for all those reasons and more, I was really interested in talking to Susan Stryker about how he got here and how she's thinking about this current moment.

Susan is an academic and a historian, one of the most celebrated

in the community, I should say. She is a foundational figure when it comes to transgender studies,

and is the author of the book titled Transgender History. Her most recent book is a collection of her essays and work called When Monsters Speak.

In our conversation, I think that Susan gives one of the most compelling answers I've heard

to the question of why so many people hate and seem to be so threatened by the existence of trans people.

This is something that we've talked a lot about on the show, and I think that Susan really

shines a light and gives a clarity to why these attacks are taking place.

So without further ado, this is LGBTQNA with Susan Shreiker.

We recorded in person just a couple of weeks ago in New York City.

So I got to know your work as a historian and an academic after you'd already reached this level of a notoriety.

But I did not know how hard it was originally for you to get a job after you got your Ph.D.

Talk about what was going on during that time.

Well, you know, we're in a very difficult moment historically right now, so everything, I think, pales in comparison to the present.

But in the early 90s, when I was

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