International Transgender Day of Visibility Resources
International Transgender Day of Visibility
On March 31, 2002, Spectrum marked International Transgender Day of Visibility with a lunch and learn panel discussion. Panelists included Meghan Buell (she/her), founder and board president of Transgender Resource, Education & Enrichment Services (TREES, Inc.) and Gabrielle Kuntzman (she/they), IT and operational effectiveness in the division of University Enterprises and Events. For those in the Notre Dame community that were unable to attend, we invite you to check out the following resources.
Ariel Thelander, who helps lead the GlassND group, guides us to the following:
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Here is a link to a trans-inclusive consulting firm that offers a variety of services, from trans-inclusive workplace/classroom trainings to trans sensitivity reading/copyediting. I highly recommend bringing them to campus (they do in-person and virtual) if your department/org has budget for it.
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Here is an awesome trans podcast with some intro episodes (Gender 101, 102, etc) and many interviews with lots of trans people doing cool things. Great for incorporating into curricula or for personal enlightenment on trans lives and trans issues. Listen on all major platforms, transcripts available on the site. Can also check out the TransLash podcast with Imara Jones for trans news & media.
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Finally, here is a blog with many practical tips about learning new pronouns, which there were some questions about at the session. Pronouns 101 and 102 are the starter packs, and then there are some "intermediate pronoun studies" posts with more in-depth coverage of specific issues. The author is a trans nonbinary linguistics professor who studies English language pronoun usage, especially singular they. If people want to add/already have pronouns in their email signature, I would also encourage making that text a link to the https://pronoun.is/ page with your pronouns so readers can get more info. Example: "Pronouns: they/them"
If you especially were excited to hear from Notre Dame employee Gabrielle Kuntzman during the lunch-and-learn session, you can hear more courtesy of Spectrum Steering Committee member Torence Witherspoon's podcast, Dangerously Likely, where Torence chats with Gabrielle in a special Transgrender Day of Visiblity episode (starting at the 23:30 mark).
Also, there was a question during the session about what pronouns one should use for a person who prefers a pronoun gender mix, like she/they or they/he. This Twitter thread provides some helpful advice.