Society looks at a person as a man or a woman, but in reality, there is a spectrum of genders, said Pride Center program assistant Bryn Smith.
“It can be as simple as pronoun usage,” Smith said. “People who are transgender may not identify as he or she.”
Gender binary is a convention that recognizes male and female as the only genders. It was just one of the items on the agenda for the Pride Center’s Trans 101 Workshop on Wednesday. The workshop included terminology, a question-and-answer period and a facilitated discussion.
The Pride Center really does not educate on transgender issues, said Pride Center student coordinator Jessica Cresci.
“We touch on them a little bit in Ally Training,” Cresci said. “But it is such a complex topic. It really needs a workshop of its own.”
Trans 101 is the first of three events hosted by the Pride Center during Transgender Awareness Days. The center also sponsored a movie night and an art exhibit.
The Pride Center showed “TransAmerica” Wednesday night. The film is about a male to female transgender who learns he has fathered a son.
“It shows that transgender people are no different than anyone else,” Pride Center student coordinator Ebony Chetto said.
Last year, the Pride Center played two movies: “TransParent” and “TransGeneration.” “TransParent” is about female to male transgenders who have given birth. “TransGeneration” is about college students who identify as transgender. The movies really help present the difficulties a transgender person faces, Smith said.
“Trangenders are some of the most misunderstood, persecuted people with a high rate of violence against them,” Smith said.
The Pride Center also hosted an art exhibit recognizing victims of violence against people who are transgender. It featured hand-prints with names of people in the United States who have been targets of violence because they are transgender, Smith said.
“We are making a hand-print for each transgender person who was physically harmed in the past year,” Smith said. “The list has more than 200 names.”
The exhibit gives the community a chance to contribute. Anybody who knows a transgender person who was a victim of an act of violence can add their name to the exhibit, Chetto said.
“We hope that this will make people more aware of the hate crimes committed against transgenders both in the community and across the country,” Chetto said.
Transgender Awareness Days were held in celebration of National Transgender Awareness Day on Friday.