Transcending gender boundaries with Trans 101
Sideways glances, harmful slurs, or misgendering – people who have been harassed due to their gender have had enough.
With the help of the Offices of LGBTQ Services, these people hosted Trans: 101, an informational session dedicated to teaching individuals how to engage with the transgender community without being offensive or hurtful.
Kai Niezgoda, president of the on campus trans advocacy group, Transcend, has been harassed before due to their gender. As an individual who personally identifies as non-binary – people who identify neither as a man nor a woman, but perhaps a mixture of the two genders or neither at all – Niezgoda uses the pronouns they/them/theirs.
“There’s a lot of misinformation about they/them/theirs being grammatically incorrect,” they said. “But they/them as a singular pronoun has been used for hundreds of years.”
Niezgoda made sure group participation was an integral key in understanding, even opening the floor at several points for students to share their stories and raise questions.
“I think it’s really important for feedback in these situations,” Niezgoda said. “It’s important for an on-going conversation to clear up any misconceptions (about the trans community).”
The open discussion offered education on trans issues prior to interacting with transgender individuals, rather than waiting and potentially offending the individual. These tips include learning a person’s correct and preferred pronoun and the correct way to refer to transgender individuals when speaking in a sentence.
“Transgender is not a noun,” Niezgoda said during the presentation. “It’s an adjective. It’s really best if you’re using trans to include the word ‘person.'”
Prior to the seminar, small leaflets of paper were passed around defining terms commonly used within the trans community. Terms such as "cisgender" – a term for one whose assigned sex matches their lived gender – and "genderqueer" – a term for one who does not identify as a man nor a woman, typically as both or neither, served as staples in the conversation for the presentation.
Shannon Jolliff-Dettore, Director of LGBTQ Services, said that even though it was the program’s first time being presented turnout was great and that a more extensive course is in construction for the future.
“We know that we have trans students here but regardless, even if we didn’t, (Trans 101) is important to provide,” Jolliff-Dettore said. “The overall goal is for a Trans 101 and a Trans 201 to be offered every semester so to continue to reach folks on a larger scale, number-wise.”
Students in attendance were wholly supportive of the event and being educated. Freshmen Alec Esparza and Christopher Bonnen came to the seminar on a whim, but were largely impressed with the content of the discussion.
“I’ve heard a fair share of different sexuality speeches but I haven’t heard much from the transgender community so I just came in,” Esparza said. “It really broadened my horizons.”
Bonnen said he has engaged in similar discussions before, but has always found it helpful to listen to what people have to say.
When asked how students could go about respecting the trans community, Niezgoda said education and compassion are profound first steps.
“Take the opportunity to educate yourself first: listen to and validate trans people’s experiences, especially when they are different from yours,” they said.
A Trans 201 discussion is scheduled for an undetermined date next semester.
