The global anti-trans backlash, which seeks to erase knowledge about trans lives and perpetuates epistemic violence, is well-documented. This article examines trans people's efforts to counter epistemic violence by analyzing their experiences of sharing trans knowledge in the media . We propose the concept of affective epistemic labor , which encompasses the emotional resources required to communicate alternative knowledge claims and the communicative strategies that leverage emotions to resist dehumanization. We demonstrate that a sense of responsibility to counter epistemic violence compels trans individuals to act as representatives in the media and share experiential knowledge as an act of solidarity, with the hope of making life easier for others, particularly for trans and queer youth. While trans individuals employ empathy and openness in their communicative practice to foster cisgender solidarity, this article also highlights the limitations of such virtuous epistemic practices in media spaces where transphobic hostility is widespread.
Heimonen et al. (Fri,) studied this question.