草莓社区

Whether it鈥檚 terms like transgender or nonbinary or the outside of a condiment jar, Tori Cooper says labels can be helpful to a certain extent. 

鈥淗orseradish looks just like mayonnaise, so a label is good because it helps you differentiate between them,鈥� Cooper told a crowd at Common Grounds Coffeehouse on Tuesday night. 

鈥淭here can be a great place for labels or it can be incredibly limiting,鈥� she added. 鈥淎 label you use today may not apply tomorrow, or three years from now, or graduate school or as you start a family.鈥� 

Cooper, a Black transgender woman who serves as director of community engagement for the , spoke at EMU鈥檚 LGBTQ+ History Month keynote. As a member of the , she is the second-highest ranking transgender woman in the U.S. government. 

The health and equity advocate told the gathering of 135 people about the history of the transgender community. She discussed key definitions of gender and transgender identity and reviewed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being introduced.

Cooper said it was especially important for her to provide a historic context for transgender identity, as she presented slides of some historical figures who would have identified as transgender.

鈥淭rans is not new,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t just might be new to some of you.鈥�

The event not only attracted students from EMU but also from other colleges and universities throughout the region. Following her presentation, Cooper engaged in a fireside chat with nine EMU students who shared their experiences of living with queer or transgender identities. 

One of those students, Sarah Peak, a junior, spoke about how she had fought a losing battle trying to turn the Queer Student Alliance at her high school into a school-sanctioned club. 

鈥淓very single time we applied for it, we were denied,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat just goes to show you that even though you鈥檙e 鈥� allowing students to voice themselves, we鈥檙e still severely restricted in schools in what we can do and what we can say.鈥�

Many of the students participating in the small-group discussion spoke positively about how EMU embraced who they are. 

Riley Quezada, a senior on the leadership team for the EMU Queer Student Alliance, said they did not come out until their first year on campus. But once they did and expressed their preferred pronouns, they felt like a different person.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 someone who was closed-off and unapproachable,鈥� Quezada said. 鈥淚 am now more approachable and I am now more of myself.鈥�

Dawn Neil, coordinator for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, celebrated the event鈥檚 success.

鈥淭he support that we got from the community, from our students, from faculty and staff that were here, it was very inspiring,鈥� she said. 

Neil reached out to Cooper about a year ago and explained how EMU supported its students. Hearing about that support convinced her to speak, Neil said.

鈥淭ori was impressed with how students’ voices are listened to on campus and with what was going on with the transition from Safe Space to QSA,鈥� Neil said.

The EMU QSA, recently renamed from Safe Space, is a group for empowering queer voices and LGBTQ+ activism on campus. This is the second time the office of DEI and QSA has hosted a keynote speaker in recognition of October as LGBTQ+ History Month. 

鈥淭his is our first big event with the new name and new leadership, but with the same spirit,鈥� Quezada said.