"The TRANSRIGHTS project investigates transgender lives and the institutional apparatus that frames them. Rather than focusing exclusively on self displayed identities, four lines of inquiry will be developed. Firstly, gender politics and sexual rights are analyzed as the opposition between politics of equality and of difference is unable to provide answers for the inclusion of trans-people. Secondly, by comparing the lives of trans-people in five European countries – Portugal, France, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Sweden – we wish to attain an overview of how institutional frameworks impact on these lives. Thirdly, our approach will take into account the immigration of trans-individuals to Europe, whether in search for recognition or as a way of survival often leading to sex work. Fourthly, by comparing different countries, different groups of transgender people, different forms of attaining inclusion or dealing with exclusion, different conceptions of gender citizenship and sexual rights, we wish not only to gain a deeper understanding of societal change and its impact on the lives of transgender individuals, but also to identify the gaps between policies and rights and the categories actually mobilized for self-identification. Such a task implies examining the voices of trans-people, the effect of policies on the materiality of lives as well as conceptualizations of selfhood that do not necessarily confine to the European context. Project outputs will contribute to the fields of gender, sexuality and citizenship by providing a grounded theoretical debate, discussing the gender categories of citizenship. Trans-people are a heterogeneous group that represents one of the most challenging boundaries for framing this debate within and beyond Europe. The voices of trans-people are essential to avoid an excessive reduction of lives to institutional categories, whether from the institutional apparatus, the LGBT movements or the social sciences."