From the ACLU, this is at Liberty.

I'm Kendall Seasmayer, your host.

There is no shortage of voices demanding everyone pay attention to the violence trans women suffer.

But one frighteningly basic question seems never to be answered.

Why does it happen?

If men are not inherently evil and trans women do not intrinsically invite reprisal,

which would make this kind of violence unstoppable,

then the psychology of that violence had to arise at a certain place and time.

The trans panic had to be invented.

This is the description for historian and gender scholar Dr. Jules Gil Peterson's new book,

The Short History of Transmissogyny,

a work that seeks to answer why trans misogyny is such a ubiquitous reality.

Because without this understanding, Jules says, we can never move beyond awareness into liberation

for trans from people. At a time when legislative attacks on trans people are at an all-time high,

and a pernicious focus on their lives and health care dominates public discourse.

This question and this exploration provides an important path forward.

Joining us to discuss is Jules herself,

Associate Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University,

and author of the 2018 book,

Histories of the Transgender Child.

Jules, welcome to At Liberty,

and thank you so much for joining me.

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