Transgender awareness

In a world of social constructions and identities, sometimes there are identities we may not understand or even know exist.

People who do not fit into the very specific gender binary can be harassed, abused, or even killed. These crimes and instances of violence are hate crimes, because these people are being targeted with violence out of hate. Survivors of hate crimes are perceived to be in a certain group and in this case, a person's gender identity is in question and they are hated for it.

According to The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, this week (Nov. 15 to 20) was Transgender Awareness Week. Not to confuse people, but sometimes this awareness is recognized at different times of the year. For example, Multnomah County Commission in Colorado decided on August 1 to 7, 2009 as Transgender Awareness Week. However, today (Nov. 20) is International Transgender Day of Remembrance. According to this website, this day "was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. … most anti-transgender murder cases - have yet to be solved."

To stop avoiding confusion and start educating, trans is a term that "allows a person to state a gender diverse identity without having to disclose hormonal or surgical status/intentions" (http://www.trans-academics.org/). More specifically, transgender is "a person who lives as a member of a gender other than that expected based on anatomical sex" while transsexual is "person who identifies psychologically as a gender/sex other than the one to which they were assigned at birth. Transsexuals often wish to transform their bodies hormonally and surgically to match their inner sense of gender/sex" (http://www.trans-academics.org/). Gender identity is important to a transgender/sexual person because they may not feel they are the socialized gender that they have been since birth.

In other terms, a person who was born male-bodied and raised and socialized as a boy/man may realize and feel that identifying as a woman is more in line with their mind. In other words, just because someone has a penis does not mean they will identify as a man. In terms of a female-bodied individual who was raised and socialized as a girl/woman may realize and feel that identifying as a man is more in line with their mind.

Again, if someone has a vulva, this does not mean they will identify as a woman. There are various surgeries and other means that people can do to transition.

I am not a trans/gender/sexual individual so I certainly cannot speak for them. The best thing I can do is support them. I can educate myself on these issues. I can ask them what they want or need, create solidarity, and let them know that I am a supportive ally (if they want that). I can take the initiative to not victimize them, take it upon myself to become educated and aware of these issues, and not use them as a shield to pretend I know so much about them, i.e. "I have six transgender friends so I know SO MUCH about them!"

Trans individuals are denied many rights a lot of us take for granted. They are treated as though they are "circus freaks," they run into financial issues because of the cost of transitioning and often insurance does not cover the costs, they need professional approval for transitioning, and they go through lengthy legal issues because of name and birth certificate ordeals.

Other issues may arise that others (and myself) may taken for granted such as going to gendered bathrooms, having a sex life, dealing with old photographs, the way one's voice sounds, dealing with gendered words such as daughter, father, or sister, using an identification card, or taking showers at a gym. Students on this campus may be trans/gender/sexual. Most students are not. For the students who are not, tolerance is NOT acceptable. Tolerance assumes that people are "others" and this does give room to looking at ourselves as a part of the power and oppression. Trans individuals are not "others." They are human beings. The biggest step we can to do is to support people who are trans and to become aware of their experiences.

We can do what I mentioned above, participate in events on campus and elsewhere, and call out people who make anti-trans jokes. For the students who ARE trans/gender/sexual on campus, I am here to support you and be an ally in whatever way you choose.