Digital misrecognitions: the violence of visibility in postsocialist Kyrgyzstan

In recent years, digital platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Instagram have emerged as powerful mediums for digital advocacy within the transgender community in Kyrgyzstan, even amidst the rise in 'political homophobia'. Simultaneously, both state and 'non-state' actors have actively harnessed these digital platforms to craft narratives portraying the transgender community as a symbol of societal moral decline and external influence, often through the practice of digital 'outing'. Using autoethnographic methods to examine the use of digital space as a medium for practices of injury and repair, this article offers a deeper analysis of the politics of trans visibility in (post)socialist/(post)colonial geographies. It examines the different implications and material consequences of visibility in physical and digital space for trans* folks in Kyrgyzstan.

Automated summary

This article uses autoethnographic methods to examine the role of digital space in the transgender community in Kyrgyzstan, exploring the different implications of visibility in physical and digital space for transgender individuals.