The CUSA Gender and Sexuality Resource Centre (GSRC) held their second annual Trans Formative Justice Week from Nov. 18-21.
The week exists to support the trans community at Carleton, celebrate them as a community, as well as educate all about trans issues, according to Melina Pelley, the GSRC’s programming co-ordinator.
Trans Day of Remembrance, which happens each year on Nov. 20, falls on the Thursday of the week. The day is set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to trans misogynistic hatred or prejudice.
The week kicked off with a Trans 101 seminar held by Pelley.
The introductory seminar focused on clarifying definitions, transgender representation in the media, ally tips, and transitioning support.
Pelley said it’s important to highlight transgender people, who are often “under the radar and swept under the carpet.”
Through the seminar Pelley clarified terms like dysphoria, which is a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction with one’s physical state, and transmisogyny, which is the intersection of transphobia and misogyny.
She also differentiated the terms “gender orientation,” meaning the gender one identifies as, and “sexual orientation,” meaning who you are attracted to sexually, stressing the fact that these two terms should never be tagged together.
Pelley also spoke about the misrepresentation of transgender peoples in the media. She discussed some recent positive representations such as Laverne Cox in the Netflix television series Orange is the New Black and DC Comics’ openness to introducing a variety of sexual orientations into their work.
Lisa Quevillon, a first-year criminology student attending the seminar, said that she comes out to as many of GSRC’s workshops and seminars as she can to be better informed.
“It’s important to be the best kind of ally you can be, and that means knowing as much as you can,” said Quevillon.
“There are so many people in the dark about trans sexuality, who are solely getting their information from the media, who is misrepresenting us in so many ways. It’s important to have these events so that people know the truth,” said Luka Roderique, who was representing Algonquin College’s Queer Straight Alliance.
The group shared the “Dos and Don’ts” of being an ally to the transgender community, including using preferred names and pronouns, respecting privacy, and not fetishsizing people’s experiences.
Other events during the week included button making, a trans sexualities workshop, a film screening, more workshops and panels, and a transfeminine support group.
Pelley said transfeminine people (transgender people who present as feminine) face particular challenges in the community, and were a major focus of the awareness week.
Related Articles:
