You are seen, you are celebrated, you belong, four panelists and a moderator panelists said of the LGBTQ community March 31 at the sixth annual Transgender Day of Visibility at Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
About 45 students, faculty and staff attended the event hosted in person and on Zoom by Rainbow P.A.W.S., the Mays Center for Experiential Learning and Community Engagement, the President’s Commission on Equity2 and the PCOE Student Affiliate Program.
“Transition is a celebration,” said Ms. Jessica Soukup (she/her), vice chair of the Transgender Education Network of Texas.
This year the discussion was about trans education in K-12 and what would help make a safer classroom.
Soukup said some parents don’t want their children to learn about transgender people because the parents misunderstand the definition of transgender.
“It’s not about sex, it’s about identity,” Soukup said.
One topic of this year’s celebration was what trans education should look like. A big debate in the country right now is when people should start talking about LGBTQ issues with young individuals.
“You can’t start young enough,” said Mr. Gideon Del Rio (he/him), youth facilitator at Fiesta Youth and president of the San Antonio Gender Association. “Transgender education starts as soon as you start reading to your child.”
Having children read books that have transgender protagonists or that talk about trans issues leads to normalization, Del Rio said. The sooner it’s talked about, the sooner it becomes part of the child’s vocabulary.
Education as a whole starts with those building blocks. It encourages educators to have trans-informing literature in their schools. It also encourages teachers to ask what pronouns they should use for their students.
“As a future educator, I really think it’s important to make safe spaces for our students,” said education senior Priscilla Solis, who attended the event.
For many educators, getting pushback from parents and the community is extremely scary, said Mx. Sarah Dwyer (they/them), English lecturer at A&M-San Antonio. They’re afraid of the conflict that could come from it.
“This is worth getting fired for,” Dwyer said. “It also comes back to knowing who your people are and knowing who is going to have your back when you get attacked.”
Being on the right side of history means keeping young transgender students alive.
“Instead of letting our system drive our values, we should let our values drive our system,” said Aaric Guerriero, a patient equity and inclusion manager at Froedtert Health.
Dr. Michael Boucher, an associate professor of Curriculum and Instruction at A&M-San Antonio, said “ We need to acknowledge the huge problem we’re having right now in Texas where we have politicians trying to use trans kids to add division amongst Texans ,” Boucher said.
Students and faculty celebrated the beauty of transgender people and the diverse richness they bring by living authentically themselves.
“Continuing to show up, continue to be visible even when it’s hard, know that you have a community who is here to support you, who you can reach out to, who sees that you’re beautiful and valid, and cool and you’re who you’re truly meant to be,” Guerriero said.
There are plenty of resources for anyone looking to learn more or even for people trying to be a better ally.
Some of these resources include The Pronoun Dressing Room, Trans Student Educational Resources and GLAAD.
For more information, visit TAMUSA Transgender Day of Visibility 2022 Resources – Google Docs.
Editor’s note: The AP Stylebook does not typically use courtesy titles but its use was an appropriate addition to this story.
