Who gets to define what transgender is, or who is transgender? The very notion of a transgender population poses numerous political and technical challenges. How are trans people counted, by whom, and for what purposes? What is at stake in “making transgender count,” and how might this process vary across national, linguistic, or cultural contexts? This special issue of TSQ presents a range of approaches to these questions, including analyses that generate more effective and inclusive ways to measure and count gender identity and/or transgender people. Essays also offer critical perspectives on quantitative methodologies and the politics of what Ian Hacking calls “making up people,” the impact that classification has on those being classified. Contributors consider to what extent counting transgender people makes that population's government accountable to those individuals.

Contributors: Kellan Baker, Jenifer Bratter, Kerith J. Conron, Andrew R. Flores, Alison Gill, Nick Gorton, Jaime M. Grant, Emily A. Greytak, Jack Harrison-Quintana, Jody L. Herman, Natalie Ingraham, Jeffrey Johnson, Colton Keo-Meier, Lisa King, Anna Kłonkowska, Kyle G. Knight, Christine Labuski, Emilia Lombardi, Phoenix Alicia Matthews, Sheila J. Nezhad, Vanessa Pratt, Sari L. Reisner, Ignacio Rivera, Megan R. Rohrer, Kristen Schilt, Nfn Scout, Ben Singer, Hale Thompson