In Gender Functions, LGBTQ+ people in drag, butch, femme, bear, leather, transgender, nonbinary and house/family communities share how their genders are shaped and formed. From decades of research across the US, Levitt relays their words and voices, sharing stories that are at once so rarely heard and yet so familiar. These descriptions lead to the formation of a groundbreaking theory of gender that is deeply inclusive and resonant with the experiences of gender diverse individuals and communities.

• Rather than understanding gender development as a project of learning dominant social norms, this work shows how it is also the generation of new possibilities to be authentic in relationship.

• Instead of viewing gender as just one of its elements, this work examines how it unfolds across historical, (bio)sociopsychological, cultural, interpersonal and sexual domains — revealing an interplay that makes evident why gender has no beginning or end.

• As opposed to viewing LGBTQ+ gender as problematic or pathological, this approach celebrates its many functions and make clear why gender is important across societies.

Gender Functions takes readers on a voyage through history and time, across diverse communities, and amidst the intriguing questions of today.  It leaves the readers with new understandings of the history of gender communities and an understanding of how gender evolves—both for others and for themselves.  Across its chapters, cumulative insights build, illuminating new meanings of gender, how it functions, and why it matters.