Remi Brandli
A pale pink, white and blue flag fluttered over a mic stand on the lawn outside of Gleeson Library as student speeches about trans solidarity and the importance of resistance echoed over the Hilltop. The April 10 demonstration, which drew roughly 20 people, was organized by the Gender and Sexuality department of the Cultural Center and co-sponsored by the Supporting Immigrants and Refugees Club, Latina Unidas and the Palestinian Student Association.
Students delivering speeches at the demonstration denounced the attacks against trans rights enacted under the Trump administration. The executive order “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” signed by President Trump on Jan. 28, restricts federal funding for gender-affirming care for minors, and describes such care as “maiming and sterilizing” children, applicable to programs like Medicaid and TRICARE. On a state level, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) LBGTQ+ rights database has also identified at least 596 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been proposed throughout state legislatures.
“Being trans right now is so scary and uncomfortable,” said senior history major, Claire Mattingly. “Being in community makes me feel happy and loved, and the only thing better than community is community in resistance.”
Mattingly came to the protest with the University Ministry led organization, Breaking Bread and the Binary, which hosts weekly meetings dedicated to fostering community between queer and religious identifying people.
Among those in attendance at the protest were students present in Dr. Cecìlia Santos’ class, “Gender, Development, and Globalization.” Dr. Santos encouraged her students to attend the demonstration following a guest lecture with Paola Bacchetta, a professor and the vice chair of research in the gender and women’s studies department at UC Berkeley.
Professor Bacchetta’s lecture focused on connecting the impacts of colonialism with the current restrictive language used to describe gender identities and experiences. Among these new terms was one of Bacchetta’s own words, “misogynarchies,” which describes a feminist theory used to account for a broader range of societal inequities based on gender and sex.
Jayden Joeckel, a junior politics major, attended the guest lecture and delivered a brief speech on behalf of students not present at the protest for fear of repression from the current presidential administration. “We do not gather just to celebrate the lives of our trans siblings, we gather to fight, to expose the brutal reality of the state that seeks to crush the most vulnerable among us,” said Joeckel in his speech.
Students like senior fine arts major Maggs Zuniga, felt compelled to attend the protest on behalf of those who felt vulnerable and endangered by attending any protests. “There’s too much going on in the world that’s affecting me and the people around me, that I can’t, as a person who does have some privilege in this circle, not come to an event like this and make my voice heard.”
The protest, which focused heavily on the topic of intersectionality drew students to the entrance of Gleeson library. Zuniga appreciated the speeches given by students, connecting the experiences of oppression faced by undocumented immigrants facing deportation by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation, to the attacks against trans people in the United States. “I think that a lot of people understand in concept what intersectionality is,” they said.
Leading the Gender and Sexuality Center, D Perez-Sornia hopes to receive more input on how queer and trans students can be supported by the University,“I’d hope to see more intentional outreach, curiosity, and agency on behalf of university professionals, especially those who are student facing or have duties or make decisions which impact students.”
Following the recognition of International Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31, a major theme of the protest was reminding the USF community that transgender people are integral to the history of activism in the United States. An update to the Stonewall National Monument page on the National Park Service website, removes the letter “T” from LGBTQ+. The statement now reads: “the events at the Stonewall Inn sparked fresh momentum for the LGB civil rights movement.”
GLAAD, a non-profit group advocating for the rights of queer people, released a statement following the changes to the website, “‘The tireless work of Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and countless other trans women of color paved the way and continue to inspire us. You can try to erase our history, but we will never forget those who came before us and we will continue to fight for all those who will come after us.’”
“Trans rights are human rights first and foremost,” said Joeckel. “I think it’s important that if we’re going to be organizing for immigrants, [if] we’re going to be organizing for Palestinians, that we see the cross section.”
The Gender and Sexuality Center hosts events including Turning Pain into Power (LGBTQ resistance space) every Tuesday from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., Glitter Hour on Fridays from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., and the QT-POC Hangouts on Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in UC 413.
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