TG Activism in the Making

Jennifer

This is a new column, and it is all about Transgender Activism.

First let me introduce myself to the TGForum Community. I’m Jennifer Braly an active activist for transgender rights. I have pushed the bar, and set a new standard that caught the eye of the world back in May of 2011. I was a student at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith. The heart and soul of Bible belt country, and here I was sticking my neck out on the line. I really didn’t know at first how hard I was pushing the limits. I was a psychology major there and in my general psychology class my teacher asked me if I wanted to give a presentation on transgender and gender identity disorders. She felt because I was transsexual that I would do a better job of explaining it to the class than she would.

This was my break the moment I had been looking for to step out of the shadows, and be a voice to erase the ignorance of what it meant to be trans. I agreed and it went so well that she had me do all three of her classes and then recommended me to other professors at the university.

The next thing I knew I was booked up for the spring semester of 2011 with over 20 lectures to give, and I had even started a LGBT support group on campus called Circle of Hope. I felt like I was making change. I got a lot of positive feedback from the students in the classes and emails asking questions or just to say thank you for changing my view of what a transsexual really was. I knew that this is what I wanted to do, and who I wanted to be. I just didn’t want to be the transsexual girl in the shadows anymore. I was making a difference, and I was also ruffling a few feathers of some nasty prehistoric dinosaurs that decided it was time to have lunch. They were not happy that I was unbalancing their nice little community. I was restricted to living in a dorm by myself because they wouldn’t treat me as equal to other women, and I was told I couldn’t use the women’s restrooms anymore because they had gotten a few phone calls from female students complaining they were uncomfortable.

I sought out lawyers and no one would take my case, but one lawyer tipped me off that the Department of Justice might be able to help. I went to the local D.O.J., and they forwarded my case to the main office in Washington D.C. I was bringing in the big guns, and after I had gone this far — I wasn’t going to back down.

It took about a month for the D.O.J. to investigate my complaints, and the mighty hand of the law was now forcing those prehistoric dinosaurs to settle their ruffled feathers down and treat me as an equal to other women.

I now had legal authority to use the women’s restrooms and to apply for housing just like any other girl. I was happy and I was back to doing my lectures. I had won, but it was only one of many battles that an activist will face.

It was nearing the end of the spring 2011 semester and I had 2 more lectures to give. I was going to end the semester on a high note, until those prehistoric animals decided to try to have me for lunch again.

Round 2 was a lot nastier than round one because now I had no legal arm to back me up except freedom of speech. When I was told that the provost had cancelled my upcoming lectures I was highly agitated. I called the teacher of the class trying to get answers and she didn’t have any either. She was just as dumbfounded by the university’s move to cancel my lectures as I was. We talked and decided we would fight back. She was retiring at the end of the semester, so she had nothing to lose and I didn’t have anything to lose either.

I showed up the morning of the lectures dressed up in my favorite dress and heels looking beautiful and when I stepped into the class room the dean of the psychology department was there to greet me. He was there to make sure I was silenced and the class was not happy about it at all. After 10 minutes of trying to negotiate with him, I finally found a solution to the problem. I asked the teacher if she was going to cancel class since I couldn’t speak and she said yes, then I said to the dean can I take the class to a “non classroom” setting. He said he couldn’t stop me from doing that but under no circumstances could I use any classroom. Bad move for him — great move for me —  because I took them to the student lounge and gave my lecture to not only the whole class that followed me, but everyone else in the student lounge as well.

I did this for both scheduled classes, and by the time I was halfway done I was center attention of the whole school. It spread like wildfire through texting, Facebook, Twitter, and blog sites. The news was out. It caught the attention of two big news broadcasters ,Fox 24 news and CBS channel 5 news. I was now doing interviews on TV.

I was in the newspaper, the school newspaper, and all over the Internet. I was now a name that spread around the world through social media on the Web. It’s been tough since then. Even after all the dust has settled it was still hard to get a teacher to let me speak to any class after that. I gave my last lecture in Arkansas at University of Arkansas Fayetteville to a diversity class that summer.

I applied to transfer to University of Toledo which has a more transgender friendly policy and they had just the degree for me to pursue, too. I’m now studying Women’s and Gender Studies and will complete my BA in fall of 2014 or spring of 2015. I already gave a lecture here in Ohio at the Owens Community College to a Philosophy class. It was great to give a new perspective to students on the philosophy of identity.

I met Angela Gardner on LinkedIn, and she asked me to start a TG activism column. I’m now one of the newest members of the TGForum website but I will now also be your monthly TG activist guide. We will be dealing with a lot of different topics from how to become an activist, to . . . are LGB issues and T issues compatible and everything in between. Till next time —  remember, one person can make a difference. I’m living proof of that!

TG Power and Love,

TransJenn

Tags: Activist, featured, Transgender, Transsexual

Category: Transgender How To, Transgender Opinion