Day of Remembrance Gives Voice to Transgender Students on Campus

By Sarah Hardy

After gender reassignment surgery in 2005, Karin Fresnel was told that people did not want to work with her because she was transgendered. She received a demotion at her job and was told that her office would be closed. She eventually lost her job as a geologist for a private consulting firm, and chose not to sue her employer because she felt it would damage her reputation in the geology community, Fresnel told the Bay Area Reporter. Fresnel is a Eureka resident and board member of Queer Humboldt, a resource group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community in Humboldt County. Since Fresnel transitioned from male to female, she has been verbally harassed and physically threatened in the Arcata Safeway and on the streets of the town. Transgender is an umbrella term for people who experience and express their gender differently from what most people would expect, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTI lobbying and political action group in the United States. It includes characterizations that arent traditional views of a persons sex or presumed sex such as transsexuals and cross-dressers, as well as many other terms. Some people use the term transgender to describe themselves because they do not want to define themselves as exclusively male or female. A transgender person living in America has a one in 12 chance of being murdered, according to FBI crime reports from 2000 and Kay Brown, an instructor at the Harvey Milk Institute, a school for queer studies in San Francisco. In comparison, a nontransgender American has a one in 18,000 chance of being murdered. In addition to higher murder rates, transgender people face increased chances of becoming victims of hate violence and harassment, which can range from physical to

verbal. The lack of understanding generates many problems as people generally fear what they do not understand, begetting discrimination, abuse, violence, and sadly, murder, Fresnel told the Lumberjack. HSU Philosophy Professor Loren Cannon, a transgendered individual, tried to explain why transgender people are often victims of bias and discrimination. Our cultural norms are that with people who are transgender or transsexual theres a sense that they arent real - that theyre trying to be fake men or women, he said. Cannon and Fresnel run a community support group together. I dont know if [Arcata] is a lot different than anywhere else, said Cannon. Theres still a lot of misinformation. [Arcata] isnt liberal for people of color or trans people of color. Lou Sherry, a journalism junior, identifies as a female to male transsexual. I dont feel any different than any other person, said Sherry. The only thing that makes me feel different are labels. They help you to a point, and then you get to that point and youre like okay Im just a person. Sherry said that HSU and Humboldt County are more accepting to transgendered people than where he grew up in Placerville, Calif. Sherry believes this could be because many people dont know transgender people are around them, especially if they blend in. [Peoples acceptance] really depends on your education, life experience and who youre friends with, he said. Sherry has been verbally threatened, but the threats were never carried out. I shouldnt feel like I should have to go out and buy a gun to protect myself, Sherry said. Cannon and Fresnel have known people that have been victims of violence. As a result they both try to reach out to transgender people in the community. Cannon has reached out to HSU students in particular. A lot of students come to talk to me about being trans and what that means and where their lives are going, said Cannon.

Cannon is leading a presentation about violence against transgender people for the 11th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance on Nov. 19th in Founders Hall 125 at 6 p.m. The Day of Remembrance honors those who were victims of violence based on bias against transgender people. It began in San Francisco in 1999 with a candlelight vigil to honor the death of Rita Hester who was murdered on Nov. 28 1998. The murder is still unsolved. At 7:15 p.m. there will be a candlelight vigil on the Quad. There will also be a candlelight vigil on the Eureka courthouse lawn from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. sponsored by Humboldt Pride on Nov. 20. Cannon believes that participating in events like this, as well as teaching courses like Trans Lives and Experiences through HSUs Womens Studies Department helps to break down misinformation and misconceptions, which continue to pose problems for the transgender community both in Arcata and worldwide. People everywhere, trans or not, deserve the same amount of respect, said Cannon.