TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones Trans Surveillance at DHS
Sep 18, 2025
In this discussion, legal historian Kate Redburn, a Columbia Law School associate professor, delves into the troubling history of government surveillance on queer communities, highlighting changes since World War II. René Kladzyk, a senior investigator at the Project on Government Oversight, follows up by revealing how recent rollbacks by the Department of Homeland Security are tightening surveillance on LGBTQ+ individuals and immigrants. They both explore the chilling effects of these policies on privacy and community safety.
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Surveillance Rooted In Social Order
- Municipal laws against "cross-dressing" after the Civil War enforced gender order linked to economic roles.
- Federal surveillance capacity grew after WWII, enabling targeted control of queer people at scale.
Trans Ocean Rower Taylan Stulting
- Taylan Stulting rowed 2,800 miles across the Pacific as the first openly trans ocean rower.
- They raised funds for Doctors Without Borders and Athlete Ally while pursuing a PhD and social work career.
Postwar Data Revolution Enabled Targeting
- Federal capacity to collect population data after World War II intensified scrutiny of queer people.
- That enabled federal exclusions in immigration, military, and welfare with much greater specificity.
