Hello Everyone,

Our group is doing pretty well so far by utilizing multiple sites to promote Trans wellbeing. Currently two of us are going to make a video from a platform of our choosing. So far things are going well. We have posts on Facebook along with Twitter and other sites as well. We have also been able to have stories from other people who care deeply for Trans lives. I think for me I might use Twitter in order to make my video but I will see depending on if it comes out they way I hope. On Tuesday we are going to meet to look over the videos and see if they work or not.

Thank you for reading the update,

Jonathan Becker

Currently we are set up on Twitter and the SCSU Blog site which will focus on Transgender rights and the challenges they face. Next week we will have our first postings and our first meeting as well. We are currently also getting some approval from other sites and getting our profiles set up. I am excited for next week and I am excited for next weeks posting.

Hello Everyone!

My group for this project wishes to focus on Trans rights and well being. We all are passionate about this topic and hope we can help bring more information to people. We wish to bring awareness because to many innocent people have been mistreated and misunderstood. Facebook and Twitter will be the main media platforms to help bring information to viewers. Our plans are to meet at least once a week in order to discuss progress and what can be fixed if need be about our outreach. I am excited for this group and hope as the semester continues we accomplish our goals.

Hello Everyone!

My group for this project wishes to focus on Trans rights and well being. We all are passionate about this topic and hope we can help bring more information to people. We wish to bring awareness because to many innocent people have been mistreated and misunderstood. Facebook and Twitter will be the main media platforms to help bring information to viewers. Our plans are to meet at least once a week in order to discuss progress and what can be fixed if need be about our outreach. I am excited for this group and hope as the semester continues we accomplish our goals.

One way to bring new dimensions is through the use of art or even stories. Movies and shows would help but the majority of people cannot afford to make a movie or show with episodes that brings a message that is coherent and makes sense. The use of art and even writing stories or maybe even poetry could help bring imagination to places of the world. The LGTBQ community can greatly benefit to expressing values and goals by using art or literature to show ideas and experiences that allows others to connect to the messages being given. This can be hard however because their will always be others who may not respond well to the message or not understand it. This is where people need to be open to criticism and see where things can be improved and where they cannot. Is art and stories the only way to bring and imaginative dimension? No but art and stories bring out emotions and empathy to the struggles of others often and makes us evaluate our part in the world.

It is natural to often view ourselves in a critical lens and we then apply this lens to our interactions and unity with others. We judge ourselves which then makes us judge the community itself harshly. In order to imagine our connections with others we need to start seeing how we all are unique and have something to offer either big or small to the area we are born to or choose to live in. As I became more involved on campus and met kids who were also LGTBQ I found that many of us did not know how we connected to the community outside of campus. The university has always tried to make us feel safe and accepted and given us resources in case we came across issues. Kids who Transgender however from what I have encountered feel more uncertain about their connections to the community. One kid explained to me how he did not know how to walk up to even other gay people to ask for a date because some but not all gay people are uncomfortable with that fact he had undergone surgery. As a social justice topic this situation that is described is hard to talk about because we cannot just force another person to date another. This situation though is just a small window to what it can be like to be Transgender and the trials they go through to be who they deserve to be. Even among other people who are part of the smaller community sometimes ostracize them so it makes it an even greater challenge to connect to community at the city or state level. One way that could help is to ask people who are LGTBQ specifically Transgender how they would want to engage with others to bring more awareness and acceptance. What issues do they find that pushes against their goals? Is it possible that the message or goals may not reach people in an effective way? In order to imagine our best way to imagine our connections to the community we have to ask how we would like to engage in it and what possible obstacles do we create or face.

It is often uncomfortable to try and relate to others who have gone through things we may never have. I know growing up sometimes I was ignorant of other people’s sufferings but tried my best over time to become a person who can connect with them and have productive conversations. I think the first thing one needs to do is try and put ourselves into the situations that are uncomfortable. Sit down with a friend who’s parents are abusive, talk with African American kids who are worried about college, talk to a gay kid who just got his or her heart broke. These are just a few example but all can make us feel unfamiliar and we might then be prone to avoid this issue. To get past this we need to accept that we feel odd but that it is okay because we are trying to learn so that we can become better. We have good intent but it is not enough to simply sit down and talk with someone. We also have to build the stamina to sit down and talk with someone. By stamina I mean we have to be able to talk with a person for an hour or more, even days about difficult topics. We often forget that we can get defensive because we feel in some way shame for having advantages or not having gone through something. We feel like we are less intelligent or more ignorant than others who have experienced hardship. We need to accept that these feelings should not stop us from listening to others. By taking the time to listen we can change for the better and build bonds that strengthens us and the communities we live in.

I think that when we view ourselves we judge ourselves harshly and then we feel like we are unable to facilitate change even if it is big or small. This is why it is important for everyone to see role models and given opportunities to discuss topics that are complicated like the topic of racism for example. Experience overtime gives us the confidence to try and fail and often fail which is okay. Once we expect to struggle and make mistakes or stumble we can carry on and gain victories that matter the most. Being informed about topics however is what a person needs to do as well. To become a good civic agent would first require us to look at information and make sure the data gathered is accurate and un biased. We also need to not just look at what is happening to others but also ourselves. We need to try and be self aware and ask honest questions about ourselves. For example since I am white student I need to consider how my life is different then that of an African American student. I more than likely have never gone through an event where I was followed walking from campus or buying an item at a store. I need to see where my situation is different from another person and what advantages or treatments have given to me but to another person. My social justice topic I have been studying is how in many cases people who have come out as Transgender are treated differently either by being kicked out of their homes, assaulted or denied business. When I imagine on how to best be a civic agent this issue would require me to listen to people who have suffered but also listen to the people who caused this damage. This does not mean I agree with the parents who have kicked their kids out or the person who has denied their business to a person who just wants to be who they are. What it means is that if I am to understand why these events happen I first have to take the time to see a person’s point of view and why they did what they did. Being a civic agent in many ways requires one to listen even if it is hard.

Resources or skills that would be helpful is the continued support of the LGTBQ centers that exist which work hard to make sure the students know that they have support. Other skills would be that high schools can have more talks in schools and make it clear that the kids can tell teachers they are Transgender without fear of the parents finding out before the child is ready. The more awareness is what will help the most. The goals I would want is at first to see LGTBQ centers in every university or at the very least clubs that kids can join to talk where all the information is confidential. The tactics that would be used to achieve this is by using social media and mandatory talks in schools that showcase how some students are in a Catch 22 where their chance at success is heavily limited for no reason. The best way to measure this success or lack there of is to have students from different schools tell us if their lives have improved or if the programs are working. This would all be confidential but it is necessary to know which schools the kids are coming from so that it can be measured.

To me the best way to imagine a better world for Transgender people is to actually listen to their stories and often how much pain they have gone through. When I was coming out I met to many kids who either have lost college support from parents who are trying to punish them. The parents would either say I am not helping paying for school or I am not going to cosign on the loans you need to go.  Or they would say they are not going to even supply FASFA information which schools demand in order to see your financial aid needs. Seeing this you realize their is not teaching just cruelty brought to innocent kids who had the courage to be themselves. What we need to fight for is for information to be spread out to families and universities so that they see these kids are helpless. So that programs can exist so they can be more able to succeed when they are already a mile behind everyone else. The kids cannot even get private loans because you need a cosigner for that as well and these kids cannot work a full time job because that will not come anywhere close enough to pay the full cost of tuition or the room and board where it easily reaches $20,0000 a year for just in state universities. It is not right these kids suffer just because of who they are. What need to fight against is the ignorance and sadly the vindictive behavior that many parents and family members bring onto their kids who are Transgender. Great leaps have been made but more work needs to be done.