xxboy

Thank you all for sharing parts of your stories with me for my research. I closed my dissertation survey last week and reached my goal number of participants! I am truly grateful to my community for the emotional labor you gave to this project. I commit to doing justice to your stories and to using the pieces of yourselves that you shared with me to better trans lives.

The specific aims of my dissertation are to evaluate the relationship between anti-transgender bias experiences and post-traumatic stress. Essentially, I’m making initial steps in looking at the traumatic nature of the anti-transgender experiences far too many of us encounter on a regular basis.

One year ago today, Beyoncé changed our lives by unveiling Lemonade. If you are an adult (age 18 and over) whose gender differs from the sex you were assigned at birth, today you can change trans people’s lives by taking this trans-led, IRB-approved survey: www.bit.ly/BarrTransSurvey

More details about the survey on Facebook and Tumblr, as well as on the first page of the survey itself.

I just watched a clip of a Texas state senator, believing her mic was off, calling my friend and incredibly respected colleague a pervert, DURING his powerful testimony against the anti-trans bill which ultimately cleared the Texas Senate.

He has a PhD in psychology, is currently working on his MD, led the first efforts to evaluate the impact of testosterone on trans men's mental health, is regarded within the APA as an expert on trans mental health, has worked in both clinical and advocacy roles for trans folks and youth in particular, and was testifying largely as an expert on the impact the bill would have on trans people's medical and mental health.

He had already given evidence-based testimony arguing that this bill would lead to the deaths of trans youth. He was there representing the scientific communities that know the harm these bills can have, and he was standing up for the most vulnerable in the community.

After listening to all this, while he was speaking about the misinformation associated with the "protection" arguments of anti-trans bathroom bills, this Senator said OUT LOUD (albeit under her breath), "you're the pervert" solely, one must assume, because he is openly transgender.

She unsurprisingly voted in support of the bill, which as I mentioned, ultimately passed the Texas Senate along party lines.

This has me angry and hurt. It is also in some ways laughable that anyone could think of Colt Keo-Meier (or me for that matter) as a pervert. That *that* is what was taken away from his powerful testimony that she must have chosen not to listen to. But it's a reminder that we are up against more than just ignorance. There is vitriolic hate and rage toward trans people that, while related to ignorance, is far more dangerous because it shuts off one's ability to listen and learn.

A lot of trans people are seeing the headlines (from liberal or trans media only, of course) about Dr. Keo-Meier being called a pervert. Some of them have and will listen to it, like I did. I have enough people in my life who see me and respect me to protect me from most of the negative impact of this, but many folks aren't so lucky.

For those of us in pockets of trans-positivity and acceptance, it can seem silly to have to say things like "TRANS PEOPLE AREN'T PERVERTS" and "TRANS PEOPLE ARE NORMAL" or "TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS" but in all actuality, these are messages that need to be out there and loud.

Non-trans folks (aka cisgender people) need to examine what they think and feel about trans people. Have a real talking to yrself if the words freak, pervert, weirdo, or abnormal crop up. Expand yr understanding and divorce trans people from those biases in yr mind. Then get out and do it with the people around you. It isn't always safe for us to challenge anti-trans biases or ignorance. We need yr help. And all the while, please flood yr social media and communities with messages of trans people's worth and beauty. Volunteer in the community. Donate to trans orgs and trans people's crowd funding. Look for art and writing and entertainment by trans people and support it and share it with non-trans folks.

Work harder to recognize, celebrate, and love us, because the people who hate us and think we are perverts are working very hard and getting pretty loud.

**TL;DR: Below is call for participants for trans-led, IRB-approved research on mental health; takes ~15-25 minutes; participants have chance to win $100. Survey is here: http://bit.ly/BarrTransSurvey

Dear colleagues and community members,

As you are no doubt aware, transgender and gender nonconforming (gnc) people continue to be marginalized and even demonized in society and politics. The impact of this is heightened by the persistent misunderstanding of trans and gnc people and their needs within the fields of psychology and psychotherapy, and further compounded by the consequent reduced access to competent care. I am a transgender man completing my PhD in Counseling Psychology at the University of Louisville, and I am working on a dissertation that I hope will contribute to my fields’ current efforts in correcting the above problems. Broadly speaking (in order to avoid influencing responses), my study explores trans people’s adverse experiences and mental health through an unexamined adapted framework.

In order to fulfill data collection requirements for my dissertation, I still need at least 600 participants to take an anonymous online survey, which will take approximately 15-25 minutes. Upon completion, participants will have the opportunity to enter a drawing for $100. To be eligible to participate, you must:

Have a gender identity that differs from the sex you were assigned at birth &

Be age 18 or older.

This study has been approved by the Internal Review Board of the University of Louisville, and is being supervised by my dissertation chairs, Dr. Kate Snyder and Dr. Mark Leach.

The survey can be completed here: http://bit.ly/BarrTransSurvey

I am attaching the formal recruitment letter as a shareable image, as well. If you meet the eligibility criteria, please consider participating in this project. I implore everyone, regardless of whether you meet the criteria yourself, to share this with your communities and networks. The attached image has a QR code that can be scanned - it would be of additional help (particularly in reaching often-excluded trans people) if you could print the flyer and post it in your offices or community spaces. Feel free to share this introduction with the recruitment documents and reach out to me with any questions. You can also share the facebook post about this: facebook.com/BarrTransResearch.

THANK YOU, Sebastian Mitchell Barr ([email protected])

My name is Sebastian Barr – I am a transgender man and a doctoral candidate in Counseling Psychology at the University of Louisville. I used to write the blog xxboy and for Autostraddle, and am now primarily researching and educating on transgender mental health and psychology. I am currently seeking participants for my dissertation research, which I am conducting under the supervision of Drs. Kate Snyder and Mark Leach.

To qualify for the study, participants must identify as having a gender that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth and must be over the age of 18. Participation involves completing an anonymous online questionnaire that will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. After you finish the survey you will have the option of providing your contact information in order to be entered to win a $100 gift card of the type required by the University of Louisville Controller’s Office. This study has been approved by University of Louisville’s IRB.

For further details, please visit the full recruitment post here: http://www.sebastianmitchellbarr.com/blog/researchcall. To take the survey, visit: http://bit.ly/BarrTransSurvey.

Image Description: Header reads “Sebastian Barr, Ph.D. Candidate, Formerly Known as xxboy.” In the center of the image is the outline of a rectangle. Inside the outline, text reads, “Launching survey on trans ppl’s adverse experiences & mental health tomorrow. Follow for chance to win $100.”

Hello Tumblr pals! It’s been a while, and I’m back to ask for your help in promoting a new research survey I’ll be launching on here tomorrow. It has been approved by the IRB at the University of Louisville and will be used for my dissertation study. In addition to aiding in the completion of my degree and more importantly hopefully contributing to clinicians’ and policy makers’ understanding of trans people and our needs, participants will also have a chance to win $100.

If you are 18 or older and have a gender identity that differs from the sex you were assigned at birth, keep an eye on this page tomorrow (Sunday), because I’ll be posting the link to the study, as well as additional information. I can’t wait!

Jennifer Bryan, Ph.D., referencing research I (Sebastian Barr) have been involved in, which attempts to capture the truly diverse experiences and identities that exist in the general population. We did this by letting people use spectrums instead of checkboxes to describe their gender, sex, and sexuality. And the results indicated even more diversity than I was even anticipating. 

You can read more about some of these findings and particularly their relevance to preK-12 education in Dr. Bryan’s white paper here. You can also watch a video explaining the project and some of the results: https://vimeo.com/138458700.

Jennifer Bryan, Ph.D., founder and principal of Team Finch Consultants

How would people identify themselves if we let them describe their gender, sex, and sexuality on spectrums? As a part of my work with Team Finch Consultants, we attempted to answer just that question. The results even surprised me. The linked video (https://vimeo.com/138458700) is an introduction to the research project and some exciting key findings - a full report will be released soon.