A student being able to choose a name which fits their preferred gender or use a restroom assigned for a specific sex show small steps can make a world of difference.
Santa Rosa Junior College takes steps to be more inclusive and friendly to students of different genders and sexualities, according to a panel at an event called Gender Queer and Coming Out, held March 29 on the first floor of Doyle Library.
SRJC English instructors Abby Bogomolny and Angela Romagnoli conducted the panel as well as Scott Rossi, SRJC student trustee, and Javier Rivera, who works for Positive Images, an LGBT youth advocacy group.
Bogomolny opened the discussion by setting the premise for the panel to provide support for LGBT students and shared how SRJC is working to make the campus a more accepting and safe learning environment. Each speaker shared the challenges they faced being open about their sexualities.
Bogomolny brought up a recent achievement at SRJC, which allows transgender students to submit their preferred name in their student portals. The name they enter will appear on their instructor’s rosters. However, a student from the audience raised a concern over how students are unable to select their preferred pronouns when registering for classes. Bogomolny said she is working on getting professors to add a paragraph to their syllabus saying a student can tell their professor which pronouns they prefer.
Bogomolny announced she will be teaching a section of English 36 in fall 2017, which focuses on LGBT arts and literature.
She closed with an anecdote of her coming out story, which occurred in the 1970s amidst the rise of the feminist movement. “The definition of what it was to be a man or woman was changing. The goal of feminism is to change the way society views us but you reserve the right to self identify,” Bogomolny said.
Rivera shared resources available for LGBT students in the area, including the drop-in meetings Positive Images offers on campus every Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Bertolini Student Center. Rivera urged people who wish to be an ally for LGBT people to familiarize themselves with the correct terms and language to better understand LGBT issues.
Rivera also shared his powerful coming out story. He explained how he grew up living in a constant state of fear due to gang violence as well as having to hide his sexuality. He said, “Every day I would ask myself ‘Are you going to get shot because you are associated with this gang, or are you going to get shot because you are gay?’ ” Eventually, Rivera overcame his fear and shared his sexuality and now works to help teens who were struggling with their own gender and sexual identities.
SRJC English instructor Angela Romagnoli, a member of the LGBT Presidential Advisory Committee, focused her presentation on the difference between gender and sex. She showed clips of philosopher Judith Butler and a video segment of two young transgender poets called “Dark Matter.” She summarized the main point of both clips and said, “There are variations in biology just like how there are variations in gender identity.”
Scott Rossi, the SRJC student trustee and LGBT affairs representative, spent a lot of time interacting with audience members by listening to their concerns and answering their questions. One audience member raised concern to the need of all-gender bathrooms on campus. He explained how the school is in the process of renovating buildings to provide bathrooms for transgender students, but there are still many buildings that have not been renovated yet. He finished his presentation with an open invitation to talk to him if students have any questions or concerns.
Natalie Frost, co-president of United Sexualities and Gender said she enjoyed the informative presentation, but wished more people would’ve attended. Frost added that if she was on the panel, she would have spoken about LGBT issues on campus, more representation around campus and more funding for LGBT issues.
United Sexualities and Genders meets every Tuesday. Anyone interested in the club can email Natalie Frost at [email protected]. Students with ideas to make SRJC more LGBT friendly can contact student trustee representative Scott Rossi at [email protected]. Javier Rivera can answer questions about Positive Images at [email protected].
