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Abstract: The author reflects on the experiences of teaching a Trans· Latinx studies course, where students initially expressed discontent with the syllabus for lacking legible trans subjects. By engaging with decolonial methodologies and theories, the author highlights the limitations of looking for (Lugones 2020) trans in traditional archives and theories. The author discusses the importance of embracing the nonsense within the pluriverse of affective belonging and recognizing the possibilities that emerge within the nonsensical and nonbinary theoretical subjectivities that challenge conventional understandings of transgender phenomena. Engaging with U.S. women of color feminist theorizing-rooted in Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and decolonial feminisms-the author discusses the importance of nonbinary thinking practices in confronting the epistemology of ignorance in trans studies. Drawing upon the works of various decolonial and trans· of color scholars, this paper explores the complex diasporic relationality oíjoteria as a way of existing within coloniality, offering a critical lens to examine the diverse dimensions of queer and trans Latinx life. Nonbinary thinking, in this context, is essential for learning from, alongside, and within oppressed trans of color knowledge, theories, strategies, and ways of existing grounded in particular cosmologies, geographies, histories, and cultures. It also represents a vital political strategyfor avoiding and refusing discursive colonization. Keywords: decoloniality; trans studies; joteria; trans of color critique; nonbinary
Nonsense: Una Entrada
In the winter of2020,1 taught my first course, Trans· Latinx Studies. During the first two weeks of class, students voiced their discontent with the syllabus, claiming that the initial readings were mainly about gay and lesbian Latinos/as. One of the students, who identified as a mestizo mixed-raced trans and nonhinary student, shared the following: "I took a general intro trans studies class that at least had one week for us. It does not make sense to have the course titled Trans· Latinx Studies if we only read queer Latino history." In asserting "a week for us," the student referred to the usual single article or week focusing on trans-Latinx people within listed trans courses-a "week for us" that usually offers trans-Latinidad as simply a distinct voice or as a group of gender-variant people among various Latinx subcultures. I also understood the "us" as the students' desire to have me, a trans· Latinx instructor, help them find and look...