An estimated 77,900 transgender adolescents live in states that have passed laws and policies restricting gender-affirming care for minors, and continue to experience barriers to healthcare and social mobility, according to the Williams Institute.
States building these barriers — Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah — have banned medical treatments such as puberty-blocking drugs, hormones and surgeries, according to The New York Times.
Young transgender, non-binary and gender-nonconforming people seek out these treatments during their journeys for self-expression.
As anti-trans bills continue to restrict bathroom access, ban certain LGBTQIA+ topics in education and limit healthcare access, “comfort is needed” according to Milo Heard, a third-year political science and English double major and the University of Rhode Island’s English Undergraduate Student Advisory Board’s (EUSAB) director of event planning.
On International Transgender Day of Visibility, March 31, EUSAB held its first transgender visibility poetry reading.
“I know everyone is tired, and the world is on fire,” Heard said. “I hope this event can bring us some solace.”
Held in the 193 Coffeehouse on the second floor of the University’s Memorial Student Union, the poetry reading was a means of building community and healing according to Eve Potvin, a third-year English major and EUSAB chair.
“Coming together, reading together, and even just the range of emotions in readings is powerful,” Potvin said. “Going from anger to sadness, it’s important to express those emotions freely.”
The event’s location was an important factor in creating an open and comfortable space for readers, according to Heard.
The 193 Coffeehouse has held events in the past, such as open mic nights, painting nights, book clubs and one other poetry reading, according to the 193 Coffeehouse Instagram. In addition to publicity from previous events, the 193 Coffeehouse is inside the Student Memorial Union — a central location for students.
With warm-toned lighting and soft music, as well as a microphone and chair for readers, the EUSAB’s transgender visibility poetry event attracted around 40 students.
The turnout was a positive surprise to Potvin, who was “really nervous” and “constantly checking the sign-up list” during the event’s beginning. Aside from the themed poetry reading, having students come out and support — both transgender and not — was exciting, according to Heard and Potvin.
“You know arbitrarily that there are other trans people on campus, or in group chats and things like that,” Heard said. ‘But I think seeing the support all in one room, seeing people read and having people listening… It’s always good to reaffirm [that support].”
Heard, who had his first shot of testosterone (T), a gender-affirming hormone therapy, earlier that week, opened the poetry event by reading from Daniel Mallory Ortberg’s book “Something That May Shock and Discredit You.”
Entitled “The Stages of Not Going on T,” Ortberg’s excerpt was very “topical” for Heard’s current situation, according to him.
Following Heard, six URI students and one staff member stood up to recite poetry.
In order to read at the event, poems needed to be written by a trans or queer person, and that the reading is no longer than 10 to 15 minutes, according to the EUSAB Instagram.
Two students read original poems about their personal experiences being trans and nonbinary – one being second-year journalism major Kat Sheridan.
Entitled “Back in My Day,” Sheridan’s poem connected past personal experiences to current events concerning trans rights.
“Back then I was a girl because I was told so,” Sheridan said. “Back then, I didn’t think about it. Now I see my life being debated wherever I go… Now I’m scared to be who I am… Someday we’ll be safe.”
Carolyn Betensky, English professor and department chair at URI, read at the event in order to show the English department’s support for the trans community.
Betensky recited an excerpt from the 1897 essay “Limbo,” by Violet Paget. Paget often switched between their birth name and the androgynous pseudonym “Vernon Lee,” according to Betensky.
Paget’s works centered around feminism, lesbianism, travel writing and supernatural fiction, according to the Dictionary of Art Historians. Throughout her reading, Betensky stressed the importance of using gender-neutral pronouns for Paget, as they would switch between names.
Potvin concluded the poetry event by reciting two original poems, entitled “Number Eight” and “The Boy.”
“The boy doesn’t speak, he never does,” Potvin read. “I thought this was to torture me, constantly reminding me of who I once was, or make me think I still am, but now I’m not sure. He’s watching me now as I write this, behind those eyes, in the silence — a web of loneliness looking on an image he can’t have.”
EUSAB hopes to continue to hold events centered around support and comfort for the University’s LGBTQIA+ community, according to Heard.
The Board’s mission is to create community and positive change within the English major, according to the EUSAB Facebook. By providing a space and time to highlight queer issues and queer experiences, Heard believes that the Board can continue this mission.
“We want to show people that they aren’t alone,” Potvin said.An explanation of recent events surrounding anti-trans legislation, with resources on how to help, can be found on the URI Women’s Center Instagram page.