Samantha Dolores Sanchinel

Peer-Reviewed Articles

• Florence Ashley & Sam Sanchinel. “The Saint of Christopher Street: Marsha P. Johnson and the Social Life of a Heroine” in Feminist Review vol 134 (1), 2023.

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  This article analyses the legacy of Marsha P. Johnson as a heroine through the notion of labour, emphasising how heroine narratives are both a product of labour as well as a form of labour. After offering a short account of Marsha P. Johnson's role in the Stonewall riots and STAR, we explore the development of trans communities' ability to create, sustain and disseminate heroine narratives, emphasising Tourmaline's pivotal archival role in establishing Johnson's legacy. Then, we elucidate the role of heroine narratives in creating and sustaining a collective identity. We argue that community attachment to Marsha P. Johnson reclaims the place of trans communities in LGBTQ+ history but is often done in a manner that obscures the whiteness of mainstream trans advocacy. We suggest that the recent increase in interest towards the life-sustaining labour of STAR House reflects the evolution of trans collective identity in the post-visibility era.

• “Hijas de la Putisima: A Trans Femme Perspective on Juana María Rodríguez' Puta Life” in Graduate History Review Vol. 12, 2023

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  To be a “puta” means to be a whore, a prostitute, a slut, or more formally, a sex worker. More commonly, it is used as a derogatory term against women who do not conform to “proper” sexual and gender norms. In Puta Life, Juana María Rodríguez explores the histories of Latina sex workers through archives, documentaries, pornography and social media. In this paper I outline the methodological tools Rodríguez uses to read “puta lives.” As such, I argue that her model of queer affective kinship, and loving personal readings of puta life provide ample resources for work in trans studies as well.

• “The Godly 'I am' of Trans Identity” in Religion and Gender vol 13 (1), 2022.

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  To many, reading trans identity through a Christian lens only makes sense if the goal is to deny trans people of rights. As such, trans persons have generally been understood through a secular lens, thus erasing the value held in Biblical texts on understanding humanity. In this paper the author reads trans identity as emerging from what they describe as “the Godly 'I am.' ” With a framework rooted in the works of Winnicott, de Certeau, and trans theological practice as well as referring to the Tower of Babel narrative and the various declarations of “I am” throughout the Bible, the author presents a view of trans embodiment as the expression of human possibility where one may truly “come into being” in the enunciation of “I am”.

• “Tengo Sueño: a cross-generational Latinx dream of borders, religion, and trans identity” in Theology & Sexuality vol 27 (2-3), 2021.

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  In this paper I hope to engage in conversation with my mother in establishing a dialogue where I (and the reader) might enter her dream. In doing so, I will refigure the psychoanalytic dream into a Latinx dream rooted in the lived, cotidiano (everyday), experience of being 'a-cross.' This experience is further elaborated through a Hispanic Pentecostalism. Secondly, I hope to share my dream and develop the historical lines between my mom's immigrant experience, and my own Hispanic/Canadian trans experience.