Lessons on opportunity hoarding and gender binarism: building an alliance of women’s, trans and intersex movements

Abstract

When do social movements support policies that do not benefit them directly? Which factors help build stronger feminist alliances? To answer these questions, this article traces the coalition behind the emergence of the third sex in Germany. This legal recognition cracks open the categorical male–female pair and sheds light on a path-breaking feminist alliance among women’s, trans and intersex groups. Case-study methodology and interviews provide insights into the weakening power of categorical pairs, add nuance to the concept of opportunity hoarding and provide important organisational, social and discursive lessons about when and how groups cooperate productively.