Advocacy Plan
For me, being an advocate is starting small and being aware. A quick text like this can lead to conversations and connections, and from there it can grow into more. I know myself well enough to know that I’m not going to wake up tomorrow and start shouting from the rooftops, but I can garner awareness. I can accumulate knowledge and I can learn skills to help Transgender and Gender Nonconforming individuals. Being an advocate is stepping up when appropriate, whether that’s with your voice, a rainbow pin, or a text, as well as stepping down to give those in your group the platform to speak for themselves.
Photo Credit: hobbynet.info
Servant Leadership
The Transgender and Gender Nonconforming (TGNC) community are full of strengths, at the same time there are a variety of needs that need to be fulfilled. The number one need that has been identified for youth within the Transgender and Gender Nonconforming community is safe areas to feel accepted, particularly in relation to family gatherings and holidays. Many TGNC Youth are not accepted by their families, and for many this means homelessness and ostracism. Kaleidoscope Youth Center (KYC) in Columbus has determined that a big need is not only housing, but also fostering safe places for TGNC Youth to celebrate who they are without fear. Specifically, as holidays such as Thanksgiving come about, KYC has determined that they need help with putting on a Thanksgiving Dinner for their youth. KYC also offers opportunities for TGNC Youth to participate in areas where they would otherwise feel oppressed— school dances, celebrations. Therefore the need is to help maintain these spaces of safety and celebration. A lot of people want to argue that we are raising a generation that is too “weak,” that safe spaces are uneccessary; however, when your whole existance is threatened, these safe spaces are worth the time and input from the community.
Strengths-Based Needs
In one article in particular I read about the impact social justice activism has on those who are part of oppressed groups, particularly sexual minority women and transgender individuals (Hagen, Hoover, & Marrow, 2018). The study had several pitfalls, in that the subjects were not extraordinarily diverse. All who participated were White, and had advanced degrees Hagen et. al, 2018). Even with these pitfalls, Hagen et. al (2018) was able to point out that activism can be beneficial for SMW and transgender people, but that even within the LGBTQ community activism could be a source of repression. Because it could be seen that there are benefits and deficits to activism for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals, raising awareness through art or other expression can be another step. In my limited but personal findings, expression is a prominent endeavor for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming individuals. Therefore finding ways to express feelings and stories could be an act of activism in safer spaces. These images above create a space for conversation and for steps to be made towards understanding. One individual whom I spoke with said they were not as active as they felt they should be in the transgender social activism community; but, this person described how they still find common ground through music. Art, music, and dance are great ways to participate in raising awareness for social justice issues, even if you choose not to attend a rally or be part of specific groups. For me I felt like this was an excellent first step to be able to view the artists creating their art and asking questions about how it inspired them. It opened up conversations about perspectives, I got more information about a variety of different groups and how to help. I didn’t imagine that you could be part of a group and still feel marginalized within this group. It’s eye opening to see how safe spaces shrink with the less conformity to you hold.
Systemic Challenges
For the Transgender and Gender Nonconforming community, public places have little to no protection against discrimination the same way that private places are supposed to be protected (Reisner, Hughto, Dunham, Heflin, Begenyi, Coffey-Esquivel, & Cahill, 2015).Places such as grocery stores, bus stops, and public restrooms are often places where people who are Transgender or Gender Nonconforming are very vulnerable (Reisner et al., 2015). I agree with this, and it is most especially true within public restrooms. For Transgender and Gender Nonconforming individuals, being confronted with these two little images can cause not only internal strife, but social strife as well. Previously in my life I had never given much thought to walking in the room with the sign for a girl, a girl in a skirt no less. I didn’t change how I looked at these until I had my son. Then I was always wondering if bathrooms had the accommodations I needed to change him. This is not to mention the fact that most changing stations are largely only available in one particular gender of restroom. I knew to a tiny degree the sigh of relief that comes from finding the public accommodations that fit my needs. Even with this understanding I will still never be able to fully grasp how it must feel to be confronted with these two obnoxious little sketches of male and female designating where you are permitted to go and do something that should definitely be completely private anyway. The final picture in this collage is one that I found to be the height of irony. Is going to the bathroom not an emergent situation that should definitely not be gendered?
Annotated Bibliography
Dinkins, E. G., & Englert, P. (2015). LGBTQ literature in middle school classrooms: Possibilities for challenging heteronormative environments. Sex Education, 15(4), 392-405. doi:10.1080/14681811.2015.1030012
The authors sought to discover how heteronormative in the classroom construed literature with gay characters in a middle school setting, and therefore how LGBTQ students were represented within this literature through the lens of the school. The authors used very relevant information to explain heteronormativity and its adverse effects. The authors also explored the literature surrounding power dynamics that are present in schools (positioning). Information about how studying literature has the potential to impact students overall. This research came from a sample that was present in a larger case study, wherein an eighth grade class was observed. This class consisted of 11 Caucasian students, 11 African American students, one Hispanic student and one African student. Two students indicated questioning as their sexual orientation. The methodology consisted of observations, three teacher interviews, and document collection. The three main conclusions were as follows: 1. School and classroom environment positioned heteronormativity. 2. Anything outside of the heteronormative was considered something that was simply other. 3. The literature had the potential to alter perceptions or adequately reflect personalities but students and teachers constrained those possibilities with heteronormative attitudes.
Grossman, A. H., Park, J. Y., & Russell, S. T. (2016). Transgender youth and suicidal behaviors: Applying the interpersonal psychological theory of suicide. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 20(4), 329-349. doi:10.1080/19359705.2016.1207581
The purpose of this article was to examine how interpersonal relationships specifically ideas of perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belonging, and painful and provocative events contribute to transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) youth’s ideas of suicidal thoughts and ideation. This study stemmed from previous studies that lacked information about TGNC youth in particular. Comprised of 129 TGNC youths, subjects were asked to complete three questionnaires to determine suicidal ideation and attempts, and to learn if perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belonging, and painful and provocative events played a significant role in that ideation. The experiment found that thwarted belongingness did not lead to suicidal ideation when perceived burdensomeness was present, but that each factor did overall contribute to suicidal ideation. The most meaningful conclusion from this study was the specifics of what could be impacting suicidal ideation within TGNC youth; however, the lack of ways to address these feelings of perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and painful and provocative events was surprising. Moving forward there should be more information on how to address these three areas particularly, especially since they are contributing to TGNC youth’s suicidal ideation.
Hagen, W. B., Hoover, S. M., & Morrow, S. L. (2018). A grounded theory of sexual minority women and transgender individuals’ social justice activism. Journal of Homosexuality, 65(7), 833-859. doi:10.1080/00918369.2017.1364562
The purpose of this article is to explore how social justice activism impacts the lives of sexual minority women (SMW) and transgender individuals. The authors began by presenting relevant information about how all levels of activism is empowering, especially for those who are part of an oppressed group. In this article participants consisted of 20 individuals who identified as women. In this study the participants were largely White, socioeconomically secure, with post bachelors education. Participants were interviewed at three different intervals to determine what social justice activism means to them in their lives. For SMW and transgender people social activism means having a community to connect to; however, that does not mean that social activism always leads to the most extreme feelings of empowerment. The fact that activism is empowering is bolstering to those who are trying to help LGBTQ communities; however, it is not a fix all for every person within the LGBTQ community. In this study the sample size was very small and not extraordinarily diverse. If I were to recreate this experiment I would try to incorporate a wider range of diversity.
Reisner, S. L., Hughto, J. M. W., Dunham, E. E., Heflin, K. J., Begenyi, J. B. G., Coffey-Esquivel, J., & Cahill, S. (2015). Legal protections in public accommodations settings: A critical public health issue for transgender and gender-nonconforming people. Milbank Quarterly, 93(3), 484-515. doi:10.1111/1468-0009.12127
Researchers wanted to discover the impact of nondiscrimination laws that do not include protections for transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people within public spaces (transportation, grocery stores, retail stores). The authors specifically wanted to know the impact that these omissions in laws had on the mental and physical health of TGNC people. The authors cited the benefits of legal protections for TGNC people within housing, jobs, and hate crimes. The authors were able to juxtapose those benefits with the negative impact of not including public spaces and it created a clear picture as to why nondiscrimination laws need to be inclusive of public spaces. Participants were consisted of 452 TGNC individuals who lived in Massachusetts. These participants took a one time electronic survey to determine how the law had changed their physical and mental health in the past year. The main conclusion was that leaving out public spaces from nondiscrimination laws has a substantial negative impact on TGNC individuals, specifically in preventive health care. For the TGNC community this has huge implications. This study shows that it is not just mental health that is negatively impacted, but also physical well being because of a gap in legislation that leaves this group more vulnerable. This was presented as a thorough and broad study, however it seems lacking with just a single one time electronic survey. Its scope was also limited because the participants were all from the same state. It would be interesting to see this study in comparison to other states with similar and dissimilar laws.
Robinson, M. J., Van Esch, C., & Bilimoria, D. (2017). Bringing transgender issues into management education: A call to action. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 16(2), 300-313. doi:10.5465/amle.2015.0355
This article is a call to action for those in management education to learn for themselves about the experiences, language, and merits of workers who are transgender and implement best practices for workers who are transgender. The information presented was founded on studies surrounding transphobia and the workplace experience of people who are transgender. The author’s main arguments were that those who are in management and leadership education should be aware of transgender experiences and take those experiences into consideration within the classroom so that future managers and leaders can properly address their workers who are transgender. By starting with those who will education future management and leadership, the information can spread quickly and efficiently. An important note is that this calls on individual management educators to learn (with resources provided) how to better the work experience of people who are transgender. This information is extremely relevant in that there are not specific national laws that protect people who are transgender within the workplace. These protections need to begin somewhere, and management education is a good place to start.