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