Transgender activist calls for visibility in community
Posted: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 12:00 am
By Julian Chokkattu / Staff Writerhttp://www.dailytargum.com/news/transgender-activist-calls-for-visibility-in-community/article_b3ad4782-2e18-11e2-a97d-001a4bcf6878.html
Janet Mock, a trans woman, stresses the need for more representation of LGBT people of color last night in the Douglass Campus Center. (PHOTO: Enrico Cabredo / Senior Staff Photographer)Janet Mock, a trans advocate and writer, lived in fear in New York because she felt limited by her transgender identity. But she realized that just because her story has not been told does not mean that is not worth being heard.
Mock gave the the keynote speech to kick off
TransWeek, sponsored by the
University's Center for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities and
LLEGO, a student group for queer people of color and allies, said Zaneta Rago, the center's associate director.
Mock, who got a master's degree in journalism at New York University, got her dream job as an online editor for
People.com, but with her success, she said she became more aware of the amount of injustice girls like her deal with.
"I got frustrated about a lot of things, but I didn't do much about it. I thought I went through enough in my own life, and it made me ignore my communities. I thought some other activist would come along," Mock said.
To people that asked her why she decided to tell her story and come out, Mock said she did it for the girls, specifically referring to girls that were murdered in hate crimes against trans women.
