Transgenderism will be the topic at Soup and Substance on Tuesday.
The event entitled, “Breaking the Silence: Transgender Voices in the SLO Community,” will be presented by the Pride Center and the student committee from Student Life & Leadership in coordination with the Pride Center’s Pride Week.
Pride Center Coordinator Erin Echols said the transgender community tends to be unclear to most people because there is a lack of information and few transgender members in the Cal Poly community.
“Much of the campus community is familiar with the gay, lesbian and bisexual community through friends, family members, or even television,” Echols said. “The transgender portion of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community tends to be more confusing to most people.”
To inform the public, during the first portion of the event, terminology that relates to the transgender community will be presented by Cal Poly recreation, parks and tourism administration senior, Jessica Cresci and assistant coordinator of Pride and MultiCultural Programs, Bryn Smith.
A sheet with the terms to be defined is available on the Pride website and will be made available during the event. Some of the words that will be clarified include transvestite, genderqueer and cross-dresser.
After the terminology presentation, Cresci will then join a panel of speakers who identify as transgender or are connected to the community to speak and answer questions. She said during this time she will share her perspective on dating someone who is transgender.
“If they are going through the process, it changes your identity,” Cresci said.
She said being a woman and dating a man who identifies as a woman, may cause a person to question if they are gay or as a spouse feel confused. Cresci said the discussion at Soup and Substance will make people feel like they are in a safe place to ask questions or comment without feeling uncomfortable or rude.
“A lot of students don’t know about transgender students, (and) as a Pride Center it is not something we focus on a lot,” Cresci said.
She said she hopes the event will be an introduction course into what it is like to be a part of a transgender community for students, even though it is such a complex subject to discuss in a hour.
During the event, panel members will focus on local issues as well as how they identify themselves and their experiences.
Cresci said the Cal Poly campus is not transgender friendly based on the number of same sex restrooms available on campus and resources provided by the health center.
She said there is a huge disconnect between the gay and transgender community and she hopes that the Soup and Substance event can help bridge that gap.
“I want people to put a face to what they have in their mind and to develop more of a tolerance for the transgender community,” Cresci said.
To keep with the tradition of Soup and Substance, vegetable soup, dinner rolls and pasta salad will be served at the event.
Soup and Substance will take place from 11 a.m. to noon in the University Union, room 220.