As someone who identifies as genderqueer, Mestiz@, materialist, and Catholic, L Heidenreich brings a unique perspective to the study of history that is hard to find in most classrooms. “I loved my history classes growing up, but my family wasn’t in them,” said Heidenreich, an associate professor of history at Washington State University. “It wasn’t until I got to grad school and could choose my focus that I had the opportunity to study the histories I wanted. I think we as history educators have an obligation to make it easier for future generations.” Heidenreich, who was raised, in part, by their mother’s side of the family with roots in Jalisco, Mexico, has most recently been researching the relationships between the movement of capital, culture, and people, especially transgender Mestiz@s in the late 19th and 20th centuries. In their 2020 book “Nepantla Squared”, which means in-between spaces, or spaces of motion-change, Heidenreich explores how the economic and social changes of the late 1800 and 1900s influenced the lives of transgender Mestiz@s in California.