By Emily Rotthaler– In light of the recent national transgender week, Morningside clubs ‘Gender Undone’ and ‘DOT’ hosted a series of events. From November 15 to 20, campus members were able to gain knowledge and show their support for the transgender community.
The main goal of the clubs that week was to raise awareness for transgender topics, educate on what difficulties there are with trans rights, and show that transgender people are supported and have a place in the community.
According to Gender Undone’s vice-president Sophie Fill, the events were somewhat successful in accomplishing these goals. She said, “I think we reached a lot of people, but we could still reach many more. In the end, I think you have to start somewhere and that start turned out pretty good.”
The process of raising awareness and support for controversial topics is not an easy one, as Fill found out while hosting the different events. Persuading people to change their opinion is difficult, but DOT and Gender Undone found a way around that.
Fill said, “If you have the possibility to educate yourself, I feel like there’s a higher chance of people rethinking their own opinions and values rather than if we force our values on them. I think the transgender awareness week showed that beautifully.”
The events that people could participate in, among others, included a viewing of the Netflix documentary “Disclosure”, decorating paper transgender flags with supportive words and symbols, as well as a candlelight vigil for the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Furthermore, DOT hosted a speaker event featuring Avalisa Ellicott, a transgender woman who served in the military and now is a trans rights advocate.
According to Fill, appreciation for the events among students was high, as it gave many people the opportunity of expressing support for the transgender community.
Junior Collin Adank was one of the students who appreciated the events. He said, “I was so proud to see Morningside students and student leaders come together towards something they feel so passionate about. It was so great to see the amount of support grow as Transgender Awareness week went on.”
To see more inclusivity for everybody on campus, there is still a lot of things to do and change. Gender Undone Secretary Paige Taylor shared her ideas on what still needs to happen at Morningside to make it more inclusive.
She said, “I think Morningside could really improve by having more conversations about diversity on campus.” She added that for real change, these conversations would have to happen in all departments, sports teams, and classes on campus.
Adank has a similar opinion as Taylor. He said, “I feel that the biggest component to change that Mside needs is a greater number of students involved in intentional inclusive efforts on campus.” He added, “Students working towards increased inclusivity also need intentional support for all aspect of the University to see that work sustained on campus.”
The positivity of the week was briefly interrupted by an unknown person vandalizing the Spoonholder Bench which, in honor of Transgender Awareness Week, was painted hours before. However, through quick action upon discovery, the vandalized parts were repainted, and the vandalism didn’t get any chance to gain a platform.
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