Monday night, Penn welcomed Mara Keisling, founder and executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, to campus as QPenn’s keynote speaker.
A lively, diverse crowd of Penn students, faculty and staff came to Huntsman Hall to hear Keisling speak about the challenges facing the transgender community not only on Penn’s campus but also on a national level.
She explained that the NCTE recently found in an unprecedented study that “transpeople” are facing significant challenges, such as being fired from their jobs, being denied health care and even having their children taken away because of their transgender status.
However, Keisling said one of the main findings from this survey was that “transpeople are facing all kinds of disrespect, violence and discrimination, yet the resilience is spectacular.”
Indeed it is, and she discussed their many accomplishments: with the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and the Obama administration’s refusal to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, progress is being made. Keisling cited gains in changing the passport policy (being able to change one’s gender on a passport) and the U.S. Department of Education sending letters to all public schools declaring that LGBT people are protected by Title 9 as testaments to how far transgender people have come. “We are still doing amazing pioneer work. Things have changed dramatically,” Keisling said.
However, the work is far from complete. Keisling also spoke about the significance of trans medical care, saying “Trans health care is life saving. Many of the attempted suicides are due to not accessing health care.” When a question was asked if denying trans medical care is discrimination, Keisling was quick to respond: “Absolutely, 100 percent it is.” Penn insurance currently does not currently cover the transitioning process for transgender staff and faculty.
College senior Patrick De Gregorio, co-chair of QPenn, said, “There’s been a lot of transgender healthcare issues at Penn, and having an informed speaker like [Keisling] come to campus is important to get the issue out there.”
“The LGBT fight is everyone’s fight,” College junior Ashley Bernard said. “Like [Keisling] said, you can’t be amazing without being amazed. I’m amazed.”
Keisling stressed that while it is important to express pride in the accomplishments already made, many struggles lie ahead — and the decision to act is the most important one. “I don’t want to know what you’re for or against,” she sad near the end of her talk. “I want to know what you’re going to do about it. We all have to think for ourself about what we’re doing for justice.”
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