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Though many of these laws are being legally challenged, and Tennessee\u2019s drag-ban has been temporarily blocked, trans people nationwide are feeling targeted.<\/p>\n
Emmet Schweers, a trans senior at Hunter, tells The Athenian, \u201cI feel extremely ostracized and scared.\u201d He says in the last two semesters, he has been accosted by strangers and called \u201cfaggot\u201d — a slur for gay men — at least 15 times. After coming out to his friends and family as trans nine months ago, Schweers has felt the weight of transphobia even more heavily than before.<\/p>\n
Schweers says it was the March mass shooting at The Covenant School, a Christian private school near Nashville, Tennessee that woke him up to the deep hatred the Republican Party has for trans people. In the aftermath of the tragedy — which killed three 9-year-olds and three faculty members — the fact that the shooter was a trans man became a flashpoint for right-wing commentators.<\/p>\n Schweers describes going down an alt-right rabbit-hole on Twitter, reading tweets calling trans people \u201ccorrupt, broken\u201d even \u201cnot real.\u201d Though he previously believed the Republican obsession with eliminating trans health care and sports participation was simple homophobia, the English major now realizes \u201chow angry the far right is with the trans community and how aggressive they’re willing to get about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Contrastingly, Rozon tells The Athenian that while the increasing legislative attacks on trans rights are a human rights disaster, they are not surprised. \u201cIt’s always been harder for LGBT folks in the U.S. to have decent human rights,\u201d they say, adding, \u201cIt sucks, but it\u2019s America.\u201d<\/p>\n Rozon believes that these laws, many drafted by straight, cisgender, white men, might not proliferate as they have if there were more trans lawmakers. \u201cIf you have no one representing you in government, things like this are going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Founded in 2017 as part of Hunter\u2019s Silberman School of Social Work, the Silberman Center for Sexuality and Gender endeavours to expand such representation in academia. \u201cWe do research, education and advocacy based around sex positive and gender affirming social work,\u201d says SJ Dodd, the center\u2019s founding director.<\/p>\n The human sexuality professor believes that the capacity building the center does — educating professors to express their support of trans students by respecting pronouns and eliminating some of the gender binaries in curricula — helps students feel more welcome at school.<\/p>\n Both Schweers and Rozon agree that a lack of education on trans lived experience prevented them from finding their identities and coming out sooner.<\/p>\n Schweers says he \u201cspent most of my own childhood and young-adulthood not coming out for the safety of my family,\u201d and that he still worries his mother may receive backlash for having a trans son.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly recently did I put my identity first,\u201d Schweers explains, saying he believes education on trans issues is paramount to fighting the recent legislation.<\/p>\n Rozon thinks \u201cIt\u2019s weird that people aren\u2019t educated on trans people,\u201d adding that because they were not taught about transness in childhood, it took them longer to fully realize their genderfluid identity. They are adamant that \u201cIf more people were educated, they\u2019d be more sure of their own gender.\u201d<\/p>\n As for steps Hunter can take to accept and support its trans students, Rozon says at least one gender studies class should be mandatory as part of the Pluralism & Diversity requirement for graduation. \u201cIt\u2019s called Diversity for a reason,\u201d Rozon argues, saying that making this education part of Hunter\u2019s curriculum could make students feel more welcome on campus, and more comfortable exploring their gender.<\/p>\n Schweers thinks having menstrual products available in all restrooms would also go a long way to normalizing trans experiences.<\/p>\n While he appreciates Hunter\u2019s accepting atmosphere, he feels there is not enough explicit messaging supporting trans people. He says of the liberal administration, \u201cThey want to allow you space to be yourself so they just don\u2019t say anything at all.\u201d Schweers is concerned this silence may swing back around into intolerance.<\/p>\n Dodd understands that they, as a professor, are not an expert in the student experience. The only way to know what\u2019s needed, they say, is to \u201cGet the students together and ask them.\u201d<\/p>\n Rozon believes, above all, that trans people and their experiences must be treated with dignity. Even in the face of differing opinions, they say, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to accept me, you just gotta respect me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As states around the country enact laws targeting trans people\u2019s health care, athletic participation, and even freedom, trans Hunter students are feeling the pressure. While some students are shocked by the blatant transphobia shown by lawmakers, others are not surprised. Regardless, many are scared. Pamela Rozon, a junior who is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,324],"tags":[338,279,150,544,545],"class_list":["post-5140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-student-life","tag-community","tag-huntercollege-hunterstudents","tag-studentlife","tag-trans-rights","tag-transphobia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5140"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5212,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5140\/revisions\/5212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-content\/uploads\/Emmet-Schweers-250x300.jpeg\")
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