Deconstructing Binary Race and Sex Categories: A Comparison of the Multiracial and Transgendered Experience

Millions of people are transgendered and cannot easily be categorized as either male or female. Similarly, millions of people are multiracial and cannot be classified as being of one distinct race. Race classification systems have existed for centuries and have been the subject of extensive commentary and critique for decades. Sex and gender classification systems, on the other hand, have just started to become the subject of litigation in the last half of the twentieth century and it is only during the last decade that sex classification systems have become the topic of extensive scholarly discussion.