Hi everyone! I am a new faculty member in the Sociology department and the Gender and Women’s Studies program as of January 2025. I want to thank the folks at The Quill for inviting me to write a piece to introduce myself as I am very eager to get to know everyone at BU.
I am a white settler trans scholar whose research and teaching weaves together the fields of trans studies, critical criminology, and Indigenous studies. I work on issues of trans justice, trans theory, decolonizing trans studies, penal abolition, transformative and decolonizing theories of justice, and Indigenous rights and self-determination. I am coming to BU from my hometown of Winnipeg. In Winnipeg, I have been involved in many community groups, including the Mama Bear Clan Patrol and the Winnipeg Police Cause Harm, which I approach as a method of knowledge production through resistance. I am very keen on getting involved in community groups and supporting community-based education and research initiatives in Brandon.
I have a number of research projects and writing commitments I am currently working on, including an article about Winnipeg’s Bear Clan Patrol and another exploring the systemic barriers that trans people experience when accessing legal justice. I also recently began writing my book, Confined in the Binary: Anti-Colonial and Abolitionist Approaches to Canada’s Trans Prison Reforms, which is set to be released with Fernwood Publishing in 2027. Based on my doctoral research, my book explores how incarcerated trans people are launching legal claims to challenge their conditions of confinement, chip away at oppressive penal policies, reduce prison sentences, and reject colonial control.
I am also very excited to be able to teach in my areas of specialization. This Winter 2025 term, I am teaching “Prison Abolition,” which introduces students to abolitionist histories, foundational principles, and theories, current issues within the Canadian prison system, and alternative visions for justice and accountability that may be created outside of state institutions. Please keep an eye out for other courses I will be teaching in Sociology/Gender and Women’s Studies this upcoming 2025-26 academic year, including a new course called “Trans Criminology” in the Fall.
Finally, I am pleased to offer positive representation and my epistemic insight as a trans faculty member at BU. I am thrilled to be doing research and teaching in the underrepresented (yet growing!) field of trans studies. I find this work particularly important given the ongoing attacks on trans identities, rights, and people within a broader conservative climate that we at times see reproduced within our own city. I can recall my experience as a trans student attending university in a time when there were no institutional policies to adopt preferred names and pronouns, gender inclusive bathrooms were far and few, and trans rights protections had not been universally adopted in human rights legislation across Canada. Stepping into this role as a faculty member, I am motivated to assist in trans advocacy in the university, offer mentorship to trans students, and make community connections. Please reach out if you have any projects you are working on that you think I may be interested in, or if you just want to say hello!
Dr. Leon Laidlaw (they/he)
Assistant Professor in Sociology/Gender and Women’s Studies
LaidlawL@Brandonu.ca