Speakers and organizers that participated in last year’s Trans Day of Visibility: Storytelling and Open Mic event will return Friday to discuss finding strength and safety in community. Credit: Courtesy of Felicia DeRosa
In celebration of Transgender Day of Visibility Sunday, “Sanctuary and Community Healing: Finding Strength and Safety in Community,” an on-campus event, looks to commemorate anyone who wants to tell their story Friday at the Fawcett Center located at 2400, Olentangy River Rd.
In the third installment of the event — hosted by the Center for Belonging and Social Change and local community organization, T Talks — will begin with seasoned speakers, and later open the mic to anyone who wishes to share their story. Felicia DeRosa, founder and lead organizer of T Talks, said the theme was picked due to new legislation — like Ohio House Bill 68 that prevents doctors from prescribing medical treatments for gender dysphoria to minors and prohibits trans girls and women from participating in high school or college sports — targeting trans and nonbinary people.
“Everyone in that space gets to speak who wants to speak,” DeRosa said. “This is a chance for us to take a breath, love on each other [and] remind each other that we have each other’s back.”
Each year, organizers work to make the theme address something relevant to the time. Cal King, an organizer of the event, said it felt important to focus on offering a space for members of the community to safely connect and take a break from the often overwhelming and exhausting efforts of protecting that community.
“This is an opportunity for us to be in a safe space and remind each other why we do this,” King said.
King said their favorite part is watching the stories people share inspire others to tell theirs.
“It kind of cultivates this little cloud of queer joy,” King said. “It’s beautiful.”
Given the size of Ohio State, King said when first starting at the university, they noticed a gap in services for people in the trans and nonbinary community.
This inspired King to connect the Center for Belonging and Social Change with T Talks, who now work together to bring this and other events, such as Transgender Day of Remembrance — an international day of remembrance for trans individuals killed as a result of transphobia — to campus.
“To genuinely celebrate and empower the voices of folks who have been traditionally marginalized — or otherwise just overlooked — is a really powerful opportunity,” King said.
T Talks began as a way to share both the storytelling aspect of her heritage as a Romani person and her background in education with her trans community, DeRosa said. It uses storytelling events to connect and educate the trans community and its allies, fostering empathy and understanding while promoting inclusivity and respect for all gender identities.
“It’s helpful to keep that vision a little bit wider so that we don’t lose connections, we can maintain our community and have more open dialogue,” DeRosa said.
The event offers people a space to speak freely, but also lets them know they are not alone and helps connect the younger generation into a community that feels more like a family, DeRosa said.
“I think it’s encouraging if you’re in your teens or very early 20s to see someone like me who is doing it,” she said. “I have a job that I love. I’m doing the work that I feel I’m meant to do, and I am living my life. Is it complicated being trans? Sure. Have I lost some people? Yes. But I’m here and I’m doing it. It’s possible.”
Elliot Manning, a fourth-year in neuroscience and president of the student organization Trans*Mission, said in a time when there is a lot of negativity surrounding the trans community, it is good for students to have a place where they can freely express themselves in a positive manner.
“I feel like everyone wants to talk about what they’ve been through,” Manning said.
At this event and beyond, it is important to remember that International Transgender Day of Visibility was created because there wasn’t a lot of talk about trans people within the broader LGBTQ+ community, Manning said.
“An important part of Trans Day of Visibility is not just us being visible for being trans, but what we’ve done, what we’ve contributed to society,” Manning said.
