'When one doesn’t even exist': Europeanization, trans* subjectivities, and agency in Cyprus

In the context of Europeanization, transnational LGBTI rights and politics discourses and paradigms interact with local ones. However, the effects of this interaction on trans* people in the margins of ‘Europe’ have received little attention. Drawing from participant observation and interviews with trans* respondents, I examine how trans* subjectivities and politics in Cyprus are shaped amidst this process. I show that institutional responses to trans* claims reinforce trans* marginalization. I find that trans* people are marginalized in, and disappointed by the normalization of, the (trans)national LGBTI movement. I argue that these factors induce alternative modes of everyday trans* politics and community organizing outside NGO structures. Therefore, this article helps decenter trans* studies’ typical focus on Western Europe, North America, and Australasia, while offering an analysis of the role of Europeanization in Cypriot LGBTI politics.