This year’s Trans Studies Lecture features Dr. Tre Wentling, an assistant professor of Women’s and Ethnic Studies at the CU--Colorado Springs.

About the lecture:

Over the last decade, the Department of Motor Vehicles, in more than twenty U.S. states, along with D.C., have added a third gender designation option: “X.” And, President Biden’s administration recently announced that the Department of State will add the same for U.S. passports. Even Mastercard’s “True Name” project now allows individuals to display a chosen name instead of one’s dead name on credit cards. In this talk, I will explore who takes on the challenging task of changing some identity credentials embedded on identification documents and records, as well as why people of transgender experience are motivated to do so. This talk intends to draw attention to likely misunderstood aspects of legal gender transition: its near impossibility and result in fragmented recognition.  

About Dr. Wentling:

Dr. Tre Wentling is an Assistant Professor in the Women’s and Ethnic Studies Program at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS). His research and teaching broadly include trans studies, queer theory, intersectionality, and citizenship studies. A first-generation college graduate, he completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Sociology, along with a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Women’s and Gender Studies from Syracuse University. Prior to that he attended the UCCS for his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Sociology. Wentling is a co-editor of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality: The New Basics and some of his other publications can be found in Sexual and Gender Minority Health: Volume 21, Journal of Homosexuality, Transgender Studies Quarterly, and Teaching Sociology. When not teaching, writing, or reading, you can likely find him on the dance floor with other West Coast Swing enthusiasts or spending quality time with his family.