Transgender Day of Remembrance is a day recognized nationally to memorialize those who have been killed as a result of transphobia, or the hatred or fear of transgender and gender non-conforming people. The Alliance, WPI’s gay-straight alliance, is hosting a film and panel discussion for “Transgender Day of Remembrance” on Wednesday. Nov. 20, at 6pm in Fuller Labs, Upper Perreault Hall.
The film shown will be Transamerica, about a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual who learns she fathered a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.
Following the film, a discussion will be led by panelists Lori Wentworth, a local trans activist, and Matt Barry, a counselor from the SDCC.
Kiara Vincent, public relations chair for The Alliance, says that the group hopes to open the dialogue of transgender issues on campus. “… meaning that transgender issues really aren’t much discussed here, not that there are many places where it is discussed.” Vincent hopes that the panel discussion will help lead conversations in “a safe space with knowledgeable people to help and inform the Worcester community at large,” she says.
The event is $5 for students with school ID, and $10 for members of the Worcester community; proceeds will benefit Alliance members hoping to attend the Northeast LGBT Conference in the spring,; its theme for 2014 is “Queering Media and Technology in Higher Education.”
“The Alliance has been reestablished by a new group of students who are looking to become leaders at WPI,” explains Vincent. “This conference will give those in attendance the tools to educate the WPI campus. Breaking down walls, informing the community, and giving a voice to those who have been silenced are things The Alliance strives to do, and we strongly believe this conference will jump-start and empower our members to fulfill this goal,” she shares.
For more information, email The Alliance at gsa-officers@wpi.edu or search for the Alliance on Facebook.
