After Transgender Awareness Week: all they need is a safe space

People placed pink roses on placards in the Pit Friday and lit candles to honor the lives of transgender people who had died in the past year.

Nov. 20 is the Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is the last day of Transgender Awareness Week. The LGBTQ Center placed placards in the Pit bearing the names of transgender people who had been killed or committed suicide, and people placed roses next to the names. A vigil was held that night where students shared their own experiences with navigating gender on campus.

A banner was held at the vigil that read, “Give us our roses while we’re still here.”

“It’s good that they express, ‘We will remember you.’ But it’s even better to say, ‘We won’t have to remember you because you’ll still be here,’” first-year Olive Fadale said.

There is a negative air on campus for transgender students, she said, and UNC needs to be a safe space.

“It’s a constant influx of just negative thoughts (and) negative notions perceived from the campus. It’s a constant bombardment,” Fadale said.

The negative atmosphere, Fadale said, can go away when students stop misgendering transgender students and start learning about correct word choice.

“When people start making these changes, making these conscious decisions to change their terminology, change the way they think about trans people, that’s when it can happen,” she said.

Fadale, along with other students such as senior June Beshea, spoke at the vigil about the trials they have faced in the past.

“We are more likely to be attacked,” Beshea said. “Our lives are thrown into the wind basically.”

Safety is key for transgender students to feel supported.

“It’s important for trans students to feel safe. The number one thing they’re here for is to get an education, and they shouldn’t have to worry about their safety when doing that,” Sexuality and Gender Alliance President Lauren Martin said.

Issues of safety are just some of the problems facing transgender students, and there are many different ways of solving those issues.

“I would say the biggest issue facing transgender people is whatever the transgender person you’re asking says it is,” Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said.

At UNC, some of the issues of safety and support would be solved by the installation of gender-neutral housing and gender-neutral bathrooms, Martin said.

These have both been public issues for a while. Student Body President Houston Summers has supported gender-neutral bathrooms, and protestors at Thursday’s town hall meeting listed it as one of their demands.

Education about the lives of transgender students can not only provide safety, Fadale said — it can also bring an end to the feeling of negativity around campus.

“I think one, having an open mind is always a big thing, and also doing some of that work yourself. It’s kind of really taxing to be that resource as a trans person, so I think doing that work yourself is great,” Beshea said.

Education goes hand in hand with being an ally. Being an ally, Fadale said, is an important part of support for those who aren’t transgender.

“I think one of the biggest things that can be done about this is allyship,” Fadale said. “Every microagression, every microinvalidation you hear, you need to say something. You need to iterate why what that person said is wrong.”

An overall message from the vigil was that allies and transgender students need to work together to bring about change in the perception of transgender people.

“While it can be a pain in the ass, while it can be uncomfortable, I always hope trans people are willing to step up and do some education. I do want allies to do that too,” Keisling said.

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