Widening perspectives…
By: Jenevieve Kramer, Communications Coordinator
A family day at the pumpkin patch.
Photo Jenevieve Kramer
Happy Pride Month! I thought this would be a great opportunity to share a little bit of my perspective as a woman of transgender experience with you all.
First, I wanted to thank everyone in the department for making it an inclusive and accepting environment. That fear of not knowing what type of culture an organization has until you see it first hand (and are deep in it) is a real anxiety inducer, but starting out here has been a joy and I feel very privileged.
Second, I wanted to make myself available to you, individually, specifically. I can only speak from my personal experiences and knowledge, but I am always glad to answer questions you have about transgender people. A quick primer on some of the terms that I’ve been asked before:
Trans - short for transgender, or used in conjunction with gender identity (ex. trans man, trans woman). This is a scientific term that means “across from” or “on the other side of”, just like it’s used in chemistry. A transgender person is any person whose gender identity is different from the one they were assigned at birth. A trans man is a man who is transgender (was not assigned male at birth), and a trans woman is a woman who is transgender (was not assigned female at birth).
The antonym of trans is cis, and really the only time cisgender identifiers are useful is if you’re talking about trans people or a topic where the distinction is relevant. It’s not a slur or a depreciating term.
Transition - the process of changing to a congruent gender identity and can involve social elements like clothing, name, and pronouns, as well as medical elements. Not all transgender people undergo transition, and a transgender person is transgender independent of their ability/need/access to transition.
Trans does NOT mean transition!
And lastly, all of this gender business is completely independent of sexuality. You’ll find straight trans people and gay trans people and asexual trans people and bi or pan trans people etc.
When I transitioned, many people were confused that I was staying in my marriage with my wife. Who I am didn’t change when I started transition. I felt fortunate in that my wife also wanted to stay married, as she was the one who had to negotiate an entirely different arrangement as she went from having a husband to having a wife. She said it was easy for her, though, as transitioning made all the aspects of my personality that she loved blossom into prominence as my true self emerged.
I wanted to keep this light and apolitical, and instead got really personal. If you’re still reading, thanks for coming along with me! Please reach out if you have questions or would like a deeper dive into sociology, identity, and expression.
Happy Pride, freedom, equality, and justice don’t exist if they don’t exist for all of us.
