In honor of Transgender Awareness Week, which began last Saturday, students and community members attended events throughout the week to remember victims of transgender violence.
Transgender Days of Remembrance included the screening of a documentary of young adults’ transformations to another gender and the opening of an art exhibit yesterday at Student Services. The art exhibit, “Transitions,” focuses not only on the transition between genders, but also on broader transitions, including the changing of seasons.
In remembrance of transgender people who were killed because of their lifestyle, a vigil will be held at 8 p.m. today at the rock on Farm Lane. TransAction, a student support group for transgender people, the Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender, or LBGT, Resource Center and Edgewood United Church, 469 N. Hagadorn Road, are sponsoring the event.
Tolerance of transgender discrimination leads to violence, said the Rev. Kari Nicewander, a pastor at Edgewater United Church. She said the vigil is intended to educate attendees.
“When we allow this to happen, it leads to death,” Nicewander said. “We need to act on it. I hope we all leave the vigil with the hope that things will change.”
Education also is a primary focus of Transgender Days of Remembrance on campus, said Deanna Hurlbert, LBGT Resource Center assistant director.
“I think some of the things that lead to violence are purely ignorance and misplaced fear,” Hurlbert said. “It’s really largely rooted in cultural expectations and for cultural reasons, persons who don’t conform with gender expectations are labeled as being deviant.”
Although Hurlbert said there are programs at MSU to support transgender students, faculty and community members’ rights, some still feel uncomfortable or unsafe on campus.
In the 2010 MSU LGBTQ Climate Project Report, eight members of the MSU community identified themselves as transgender. More than half did not respond as feeling comfortable or very comfortable with the overall climate on campus. The survey was administered in 2008.
Hurlbert said lack of adequate gender neutral restrooms and the challenges students face in the classroom contribute to transgender discomfort.
Transgender students sometimes do not feel comfortable being open about their identity, said Michelle Brack, vice president of TransAction and a genomics and molecular genetics sophomore.
“It’s not really conducive to being open on campus,” Brack said.
“A lot of people don’t really feel safe or comfortable (coming out), for their own reasons.”
Brack said community support is important to help transgender people deal with challenges.
“When we bring people together, it’s easier to educate them on things that might help them be how they want to be and be comfortable in the body they have,” Brack said.
Transgender people in the process of becoming female sometimes have to wait for permission from their psychologist to be approved for hormone replacement therapy, Brack said. They turn to illegal sources for the hormones they need in frustration, she said.
“They just want to be who they are and not have to wait,” Brack said.
“Oftentimes some people will attempt to get hormones illegally, which can be very, very dangerous because a lot of times people will cut them with other things — heavier drugs like Ecstasy.”
Although Transgender Day of Remembrance is Saturday, Hurlbert said the vigil is scheduled for today because of the football game.
Nicewander said Nov. 20 is an inspiration for people to work for change.
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“Honestly it is a sad day: remembering the violence and remembering those who have died through anti-transgender (assault),” Nicewander said.
“I think it’s important for us to remember those stories to give us to the (motivation) to work for change.”
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