This book introduces the policies surrounding legal gender recognition of trans people in Kazakhstan Generally the research in this sphere focuses on medical professions described as gatekeepers or judges deciding who fit the prescriptions of being a woman or a man and on trans people themselves who are often portrayed as victims However this process is more complex than only describing the interaction of these two groups or by labelling them either as gatekeepers or victims The project provides a critical approach and attempts to expand our understanding of the process the dynamics and the actors involved This study will be of interest to scholars of contemporary Kazakhstan and of feminism and LGBTQ activism more generally