March 31 was transgender visibility day, and in light of that I want people to get a look inside what it’s like be transgender.
My friend, Reilly, is a transgender male, meaning he is transitioning from female to male. I interviewed him on what it was like growing up being transgender and what struggles he faced along the way. He told me about the struggles he faced growing up in a community that was not always accepting and understanding of him. People would tease him and bully him for just trying to live out his life the way he needs to as an individual.
“Somedays I’m able to brush it off, but somedays it makes me extremely self-critical to the point of some pretty hard anxiety.†It’s a constant struggle every step of the way and people should be more understanding of transgender youths. They aren’t just going through a phase in their lives, this is who they are.
Here at URI the goal of the Gender and Sexuality Center is to bring the problems of trans students to light so people can see the hardships they have to endure and how we can all be more understanding and help them. They also do safe zone workshops and advanced safe zone workshops in which people can become allies and support LGBTQA+ students and to understand what it’s like living in that community and how it can be hard and how allies can help.
“We really try to bring spotlight and visibility to the issues that trans and transgender people face locally, in the state of Rhode Island, and nationally and globally as well,†Rob Koob of the Gender and Sexuality Center said.
URI is a campus where we can all be ourselves and not be judged. To be treated as an equal is a basic right that unfortunately isn’t always given to people who are deemed different in the eyes of society. We are all human beings who deserve to not be judged for who we are or how we choose to live our lives. Being different isn’t a flaw, it’s what makes us human and we need to embrace that. Here the whole campus is a safe zone where we can be ourselves and be accepted for who we are.
We all have struggles with our families understanding us and trying to get the respect from them that we want, and Reilly’s struggles with his family is no different. For years they didn’t respect his way of life and tried to change who he was instead of accepting him. “My family was far more turbulent than my peers, they were a lot less accepting but I’m not letting it deter me.†I think we can all take a page from Reilly’s book, we all need to not let people deter us from being who we are. Be it our life choices, our gender, our sexuality or anything else in our lives. He is truly an admirable person for having gone through and still being such an amazing individual.