How is gender understood and constructed? How does it operate in the sociopolitical structures we inhabit? How is gender lived? No Outlaws in the Gender Galaxy answers these questions by analyzing the lives of queer persons who were assigned the female gender at birth. The lived realities of these individuals--both observed by and reported to the authors--help to interrogate the concept of gender and provide clues as to how gender can be re-envisioned as egalitarian.

Looking closely at these personal stories, authors Chayanika Shah, Raj Merchant, Shals Mahajan, and Smriti Nevatia explore how gender plays out in both public and private institutions, including family units, schools, offices, and public spaces. Looking at each arena independently, the book examines how binary gender norms are engrained and analyzes how the interlocking systems of heteronormativity create exclusion, marginalization, and violence.