#trans 201

On Wednesday, November 18th, I went to a presentation entitled “Trans 201.” This event was put on by LGBTQ services and the presentation took place in the lower level of the Bovee University Center. I have always held respect for transgender people and I have supported their right to express themselves in whatever manner they feel comfortable with as a reflection of their personal gender identity. However, because I have not really ever questioned my assigned gender I cannot relate to the inner turmoil as well as outward persecution and discrimination that they face. This lack of personal experience often gets in the way of my understanding. I do not understand what it is like to be transgender because I am not transgender. I have a friend who identifies as transgender and more specifically so as agender. They are an extremely close friend to me and I want to support them as much as possible, but this was always difficult because while I knew in a rather detached form that they would experience bullying and microaggressions, I didn’t necessarily know what would or could be offensive. I want to be able to be there for my friend. I want them to feel completely safe around me and I want to be able to stand up for my friend against bullying and to use my privilege to (hopefully) put an end to cissexism. It was my hope to gain more insight into the subjective experiences of transgender people within their day to day lives. I was not dissapointed and I l left the presentation feeling more informed and more committed to supporting and fighting for the rights of transgender people. Through the event I became more aware of the trials and tribulations that too many transgender people undergo through out their daily lives. This was an amazing event that really opened up a topic that needs to be discussed more thoroughly throughout everyday conversations in regards to what social and political changes should occur within our society. I wish that there were more events like Trans 201 that were more widely known about on campus. There were only a handful of people at the presentation and while this was beneficial when it came to having conversations with the people who came to the presentation and the representatives of LGBTQ services, it was discouraging to realize that just so many people don't know anything about people who are transgender at all. This societal ignorance can be seen to lead to a lot of the pain that can be observed through the verbal and social attacks against transgender people.