Transgender Non Binary Gender Diversity Going Beyond Names Pronouns

[Music]

i stand here on land

that belongs to the choctaw native an

indigenous people which is

socially often referred to as new

orleans

i am here today in gratitude and on the

shoulders of many transgender and gender

diverse advocates

and community leaders in a movement for

gender liberation

started by marsha p johnson and sylvia

rivera

in the united states transgender

oppression is as old as our country’s

history

hateful acts towards transgender and

gender diverse people

are rooted in colonization and white

supremacy

especially towards transgender black

indigenous people of color

including against two-spirit people

transgender

prejudice especially towards communities

of color

including black transgender women and

transgender immigrants

still occurs in all 50 states at

epidemic rates today

everything from unemployment equity to

going to get a

cup of coffee to trans women non-binary

people

and trans men being allowed to safely

breast and chest feed their own children

continues to cause mass polarization

that is weaved into the fabric of

society

within queer spaces whether out at

social clubs or

on the executive staff of lgbt community

centers

often the question is asked where is the

t in lgbt

feminist theory whose foundation is to

advocate for

equitable treatment of women has split

into facets that refuse to acknowledge

transgender women as women social events

like dyke marches and women’s music

festivals

have garnered criticism for excluding

transgender and gender diverse members

acceptance of transgender and gender

diverse people

has grown in america within the past 10

years however

for the community this has been a very

slow painful

and even deadly process of kicking down

every single door

time and time again if you’re a teacher

like me

you may start out each class asking your

students about their pronouns and if

you’re a student like me

i’m in the community and identify as

queer and trans

you may hear that but also wonder what’s

next

to start with i’m not a big fan of

asking for people’s preferred pronouns

i believe that this is not a preference

instead i

sometimes ask my students if you’re

comfortable please let me know

your appropriate pronouns for today if

you have one

that means that i recognize that their

appropriate pronoun is not a preference

it could change any time and that will

be honored in the classroom and they may

choose not to disclose

which is certainly fine with me i give

examples such as they

m and zur and let them know the use of

neo pronouns in my classroom

is always welcome it is important to

honor each and every student’s pronouns

even if they are uncomfortable to you

and not just rely on their name

unless they have asked you to people

often think the use of singular they

as a pronoun can be difficult to use

well aside from singular they

as a pronoun being meriam webster’s word

of the year in 2019

many don’t realize that we use they as a

pronoun all the time

if a student walked out of your

classroom and left their water bottle

you would say they left their water

bottle here

pronouns don’t come with permission to

use every gender

term for that person assumptively each

person has the autonomous right

to be addressed how they feel is best

for example

someone may say i you she her her

pronouns

but please do not refer to me as lady or

ma’am

we must separate pronouns from our

expectations

of people’s gender identity and

expression pronouns do not make someone

trans

or cis they don’t mean they will look

act or present in a certain way

there is no one right way to identify or

express

oneself based on a certain identity

within the transgender and gender

diverse community

for example someone may identify as a

trans woman and may use they them

pronouns

and express themselves in a variety of

different ways

all of which is great because they’re

being themselves

transgender and gender diverse people

know that gender is a journey

not a destination assumptions about

gender

pronouns gendered language gender

expression and more can be

anything from stigmatizing to deadly if

a student shares their pronouns in the

classroom

you’re not outing them by using that

pronoun unless they’ve asked you

not to use it outside of your classroom

even if they use a neo pronoun

or their appropriate pronoun is

different than on their student record

it is important to acknowledge that even

the professor who fumbles over their

words

as they ask for everyone’s preferred

pronoun

may not be in best form but they are

taking a risk to appear as an ally

our community makes mistakes and i make

mistakes for pronouns and competency

sadly i have in the past and will at

some point

again in the future unlearning what

society has taught us about gender can

be hard

especially when undoing an internalized

process

of gender that has been reinforced daily

since we were born

the professor asking their students

pronouns at the beginning of each class

is also modeling good research by going

to their source of their information

firsthand as a side note you should

probably not

turn in a paper to this professor with a

reference page

full of wikipedia citations they know

first source information

asking pronouns is one thing but getting

them right every single time

is not only another but also extremely

important

i unfortunately find that most cisgender

people

would apologize more about misgendering

my dog

than they would about misgendering a

transgender gender diverse person

oh i’m so so so sorry i thought lola

looked

so handsome in her raincoat i’m so sorry

you’re a beautiful puppy

and if you’re transgender or gender

diverse you’re probably thinking

that’s right a dog you would apologize

more about misgendering a dog than a

human

the reality is that regardless if you

introduce pronouns

in an appropriate way or not that does

not define

a transgender and gender diverse

affirming classroom

pronouns aren’t always a direct

connection to the transgender community

and certainly don’t define someone’s

gender identity

some transgender and gender diverse

people love that question

while others don’t either way what comes

next in the classroom in terms of

equity and equality is very important

by now you’re hopefully asking yourself

how you can create an affirming

learning environment if you’re starting

to realize that making the effort to ask

about pronouns

does not equate to the entire change we

need then you’re getting it

research shows that when improving

transgender competency

from trainings two things are most

important the attitude of the

participants and if the trainer

themselves are transgender

when you talk about families in the

classroom are you including queer

families

are you excluding poly relationships is

your syllabus decolonized

when you make a mistake about someone’s

pronouns are you making it about

yourself

or asking for extra grace by saying that

you’re just learning about this or that

you’re old

because one thing that is extremely

painful is appearing to make a space

safe

that isn’t if in the classroom you’re

asking about pronouns or perhaps have

added your

own pronouns into the signature line of

your email but then are

implying nefarious things about people

who are transgender

and gender diverse by saying they are

rebellious

authoritative challenging lying

difficult resistant defensive hiding

something

critiquing their body language or there

is something about them which seems

whatever and you just can’t put your

finger on it

but it’s not their gender then you have

implicit bias

cisgender people saying it’s not about

gender it’s about something else does

not mean it’s not about

gender also please don’t rationalize

transgender

prejudice by claiming to have gay

friends a sibling in the community

met someone who is transgender once

before have a queer relative

or attended a pride parade those actions

may self-qualify you for allyship but do

not mean your actions are automatically

free from bias

please keep in mind the ways you address

large groups if you start your class

with pronouns

but soon after say ladies and gentlemen

or address

emails hi ladies then the point is being

forgotten

transgender and gender diverse people

may want to be treated differently than

cis people

but certainly deserve the same dignity

and respect

cis people don’t get to decide if

they’re being transphobic or have trans

prejudice

only transgender and gender diverse

people can say that you’re not

remember transgender and gender diverse

competency when you’re speaking

giving case examples and presenting your

research

don’t rely on transgender and gender

diverse students to teach you

and others their perspective or about

these topics

do your research go into the classroom

prepared

take note of the environment and make

sure when i go to the all gender

bathroom

down the hall is not a sign for the

mother’s room because that can easily be

changed to say lactation room

having an expansive view of reproductive

health

that includes all transgender and gender

diverse people

is important after all i know plenty of

people with post-pregnancy dad bods

even if i told you what the community

knows that trans men can sometimes get

pregnant on t

and trans women can successfully

breastfeed their own human milk

would you even believe me and would you

work hard to create a safe

and affirming space or is your head

completely spinning because now i’ve

talked extensively

about transgender people and added in

the topic of breast milk

i sure hope not take a moment and ask

yourself if at your school

transgender and gender diverse students

and employees

are asked to show their id badge more

than their cisgender counterparts

is it easy to change name records or

email addresses

is there an elevator in the building but

two steps to get into my classroom

or a week unstructured program for

student visas and asylum seekers

are trans people seen as a joke made fun

of

reduced to things like fashionistas

these are some of the signs of a

non-inclusive environment

within your university is extremely

important to see transgender and gender

diverse representation

in faculty and staff as well as students

especially including

transgender and gender diverse black

indigenous and people of color

this means people that actually work at

the school’s faculty

not research assistants not i.t support

staff

faculty teaching and research faculty

transgender and gender diverse people

have vast

knowledge and intersectional experiences

and are expert trainers on these topics

as well as

others regardless of if they have a

master’s degree

phd or doctorate they have the life

experience

which research shows is the biggest

qualifier to train

students and staff way more successfully

than cisgender

trainers of any education level or area

of research

trainings on gender diversity given by

transgender and gender diverse people

should be held

often and during the regular day not

sidelined to the weekend evenings or

take place at queer

related events lastly it is many facets

of privilege that have allowed me to be

here today

as i say with teaching i will say with

this talk

i will be happy when every trans person

is a speaker

and teacher in this space and to see

many transgender

black and indigenous people of color

including black and latinx transgender

women

in universities across the country and

around the world as teachers

leaders faculty and board members

let’s work together to educate implement

and organize while asking pronouns may

be very much appreciated in their

correct context

these small efforts don’t near add up to

the changes we need

allies certainly make a huge difference

but when it comes to creating

transgender and gender diverse inclusive

environments

cisgender people shouldn’t be the ones

deciding are we there yet

well i’ve talked a lot about different

ways transgender

bias and prejudice exists in academia

take time to ask yourself

are you willing to address everything

all at once

how far are you willing to go are we

still

going to be talking about this 10 years

from now

i hope not how much are you willing to

risk

privilege and comfort and create an

affirming environment

to show that all transgender and gender

diverse lives matter

taking small steps few and far in

between has led to the current state

that is unsafe not affirming and

uncomfortable

even on a good day many transgender and

gender diverse people face severe

oppression

unemployment housing insecurity violence

even

murder because of transgender prejudice

and systematic injustices

that fail us every single day this is

especially true for black transgender

women

who are being violently murdered at

epidemic rates internationally and in

this country

even within lgbtqia plus groups there is

a long history

of excluding the rights of transgender

and gender diverse people

with the belief that legislature would

have a much easier time passing

if sexual orientation was left in and

gender identity and expression was saved

for later

don’t save us for later transgender and

gender diverse people are

not a burden we matter we are here now

we have always been i remember a while

ago i was working

on the new york blueprint for progress

to end aids by 2020

and had the tremendous honor of staying

next to mark harrington

in the tag office he drew a graph for me

on a

small party napkin showing how it would

look to end the epidemic

i’ll never forget his words he said the

end is one day

when we reach no more deaths the goal is

to get to that day

but what we need to focus on today is

bending the curve

we need to ask ourselves between now and

that day

what happens to all the lives in between

we get to decide what happens to the

lives in between

go further than including appropriate

pronouns

fight for sweeping changes make time to

advocate for all legislature

work towards not only addressing

misgendering but being part of the

solution

of every single issue that transgender

and gender diverse people face

every single cause both inside and

outside of the classroom

it is not impossible to change all of

this at once

and i ask you to think of the cost of

not changing it all now

bending the curve on trans justice is

not taking things slowly

when cis people are ready measure by

measure it is

fixing the system a term for a system

by cisgender people forces gender people

that excludes or diminishes transgender

and gender diverse human rights

don’t ask yourself is now the time to

make

all the changes instead ask yourself how

many will be harmed

if you don’t i am here to tell you now

is the time to make all the changes all

at once

overhaul the system thank you for

listening today and for

every step you take beyond simply asking

a pronoun

towards creating a safe space for

transgender and gender diverse people