(1966– ) is a non-binary American trans and LGBTQ+ activist, educator, researcher, and author. Beemyn has written more than 10 books in trans and queer studies.

One of the first out non-binary college administrators in the United States, Beemyn has been the director of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Stonewall Center, an on-campus LGBTQ+ resource center, since 2006. Beemyn is also the coordinator of Campus Pride Trans Policy Clearinghouse and co-chair of International Pronouns Day.

Biography Beemyn came out as trans and genderqueer in the mid-to-late 1990s. They cite Stone Butch Blues (1993) by Leslie Feinberg as a "revelatory moment" for them as they related to the gender non-conforming main character.

Education Beemyn graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies and Political Science from Cornell University in 1989. They then went on to complete two Masters at the University of Iowa in African American Studies (1991) and American studies (1993). They completed their PhD in the same two subjects also at the University of Iowa in 1997.

In 2001 Beemyn graduated with a Masters in Higher Education Administration from the University of Rochester.

Career Beemyn began their career in the early 1990s as an instructor in African American Studies and English at the University of Iowa. In 1997 they became an Assistant Professor in African American Studies at Western Illinois University.

Beemyn collected oral histories from LGBTQ+ individuals living in Washington DC from July 14, 1997 to December 21, 2000. These histories would be used later in Beemyn's 2014 A Queer Capital: A History of Gay Life in Washington D.C.

From 2001 to 2006 Beemyn worked as the GLBT Student Services Coordinator at Ohio State University.

Since 2004 Beemyn has conducted research on and tracked trans-inclusive university policies across the US. Two years later, Beemyn began working as the director of the Stonewall Center at UMass Amherst, third-oldest campus LGBTQ+ resource center in the US.

Beemyn and Sue Rankin published one of the first empirical surveys of the trans community in The Lives of Transgender People in November 2011. In the forward to the book, Shannon Minter writes "Through surveys and interviews with a huge sampling of transgender people from across the country, [The Lives of Transgender People] is the first major study to combine methodological rigor with an insider’s grasp of the nuances and complexities of transgender lives." Beemyn and Rankin found that 257 of their survey participants did not identify with the gender identities of 'male,' 'female,' or 'trans' – with some preferring terms like "'fluid,' 'neutral,' 'queer,' [and] 'two-spirit,'" while were uncertain or found no suitable word existed as of yet.

In 2021 and 2022 Beemyn taught 'LGBTQ+ People in Higher Education' at the University of Michigan.

Beemyn is on the editorial board of three academic journals: International Journal of LGBTQ+ Youth Studies; Journal of Bisexuality; and Journal of Homosexuality.

Selected publications

Books

Book chapters

Awards +YearAwarding BodyAwardResultReference1995American Historical AssociationAlbert J. Beveridge Research Award in Western Hemisphere History2002University of Rochester Margaret Warner Graduate School of EducationWalter I. Garms Award for Educational Leadership2006National Association of Student Personnel AdministratorsGLBT Issues Knowledge Community – Service to Student Affairs Award2015Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource ProfessionalsResearch and Assessment Award2016UMassRoy J. Zuckerberg Endowed Leadership Prize2019Trans Visibility MarchLou Sullivan Torch Award2019Forward ReviewsForeword INDIES Book of the Year Award – LGBTQ Category 2022American Psychological Association’s Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender DiversityDistinguished Book Award

References