Creating A Movement: Transgender Rights Movement Reflections | Anjana Orozco
Creating A Movement: Transgender Rights Movement Reflections | Anjana Orozco
Table of Contents
Which social movement did you choose, and what interests you about the movement?
What is the “big question” or inquiry that the movement is trying to answer?
What do you think has caused the movement to gain or lose momentum?
How does this movement either directly or indirectly impact your day-to-day life?
Which social movement did you choose, and what interests you about the movement?
The social movement I chose is the transgender rights movement. What I find fascinating about the transgender movement is just how much I am oblivious to the plight of this subsection of my community.
I know several transgender males to female and female to male who have shared the struggles and tragedies they have endured in their journey to social acceptance.
Here is a personal quote from my daily journal: "I was also dismayed that even a progressive university like Oberlin would, on the one hand, try so valiantly to be inclusive, and on the other seemingly not realize which members of its population were still being left behind.”
I have always been an advocate for equality and diversity. It is important to me not only as an openly gay man but also as a human being.
Younger friends brought to my attention that today's youth speak a different language than mine and face issues that I had never dreamed would occur in the world I grew up in. This fact alone has made me realize just how much more it is for me to learn about our changing societal views of transgender diversity and rights.
How have you learned about this social movement (news articles, social media, social commentary, conversation with others, television news)?
I learned about the transgender rights movement from a close personal friend named AJ. When I met him, he was a male, and we dated for several months while I lived in Hawaii. Before leaving Hawaii to move back to the states, AJ decided he would attend UCLA in his natural skin. As a woman. She is 48 years old, HIV positive, and living happily as a female. We spend several hours talking about new campaigns she works on at the school, and he shares the personal stories she faces as a woman in the male-dominated field of diversity law. She inspires me and educates me. I have seen the transgender social movement generate momentum through social media and people sharing personal stories on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other digital video sites. The transgender campaign for transgender rights has been nothing but heartwarming to a transgender ally like me.
What is the “big question” or inquiry that the movement is trying to answer?
I believe the big questions or inquiries the transgender rights movement is trying to answer are transgender people deserve human rights; transgender people have a legitimate right to exist as transgender persons, transgender people are worthy of social respect and regard. It also seems like it is trying to redefine the transgender identity as not truly pathological but relatively usual for transgender individuals
What do you think has caused the movement to gain or lose momentum?
I feel the movement has gained momentum from the social media advocates, like my friend AJ. She provides a window into the everyday life of transgender women and invites the conversation to educate people on what it's like to live as a woman.
AJ stands for Ajana Orozco J., but she prefers AJ because "it is easier to pronounce when transgender. She explains that transgender is one word and not an abbreviation. Being transgender means identifying with a gender other than the sex assigned at birth. She contributes to the momentum of her cause by advocating transgender rights through her social media. She is a supporter of transgender people and transgender rights in the U.S. and worldwide.
When AJ transitioned to living as a woman, she faced discrimination that transgender women are commonly exposed to, such as verbal harassment and housing. AJ wants transgender women to be able to express themselves without fear of consequence. Her Facebook page shares pictures that feature transgender women supporting transgender rights by labeling themselves with "Transgender is Beautiful.” Aj posts articles about transgender issues, which raise awareness on this topic, gain supporters' attention and direct them to websites about transgender activism so they can learn more about it.
How does this movement either directly or indirectly impact your day-to-day life?
The transgender social movement has not directly impacted my life, but it has hit closer to home before. My neighbor is a transgender woman, and wow, I had no clue! I only found out because she accidentally put her women's clothing in the trash bin that we share for both building's garbage cans. She came over to me, apologizing profusely for making this mistake, then explained why she was doing this. Nothing like seeing your neighbor half-naked by accident -_-
I would say that transgender issues indirectly impact my day-to-day life more than anything else in the LGBTQ community. Gay marriages across the nation are now being shown as equal to heterosexual couples married long before. I think soon; we will see the same revelation in the transgender community. Transgender rights are just as crucial to transgender social movements. When transgender people can live their everyday life without fear of being fired from a job or being denied housing, then that is when transgender issues will have reached full equality with the rest of society.
My transgender alley identity doesn't directly impact my day-to-day life all too much; I don't go around telling everyone I meet about what's underneath my clothes. However, transgender people tend to be the butt of jokes and witty remarks (I am guilty of this myself at times). Every time someone uses transgender as a noun for something negative, it subconsciously makes transgender seem like an oddity and not normal, affecting us as a whole. It also has a ripple effect!
Resources
Orozco, A. (n.d.) • instagram. https://www.instagram.com/ajanaorozco/?hl=en.
https://www.facebook.com/AjanaOrozco