Introduction posts always seem so, well, introductory. But, as Julie Andrews says, “let’s beginning at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start.” And with this being a Q&A blog, I think I’ll do this interrogation style.

Hey, who the heck are you, anyway?

My name is Andrew and I’m finishing up my BA in Human Ecology (it’s really better if you don’t ask, “why?”) at some point in the next year. I attend a tiny liberal arts college on the Downeast Coast of Maine, though I’m originally from Los Angeles and I’ve lived in Alexandria, VA and Boston, MA at various points. I started doing activism the summer after 7th grade and I currently run Spectrum, the LGBTQ group on my campus. I am also on The Trevor Project's Youth Advisory Council, the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition’s Youth Committee and last summer I was an intern at BAGLY, the Boston Alliance of GLBT Youth.

So what makes your activism clock tick?

I identify as a trans guy, so that is where a lot of my activism happens – fighting for gender neutral bathrooms really is my calling. I certainly wouldn’t mind marriage equality though I think that we need non-discrimination laws more than we need same sex marriage at the moment, so that tends to be where I place my energy. Because I live in such a small town I am not able to get as involved in local activism as I would like, but I think doing things like the Campus Q&A Blog and networking through social sites like Facebook and Trevorspace are fantastic ways to connect and build a more cohesive LGBTQ community.

So…. Why?

I think some of the biggest reforms that need to happen before equality is achieved center around education. People have to be clearly, correctly, and rationally informed about issues before decisions can be made about things like ENDA, marriage equality, or non-discrimination laws. I am fascinated (horrified, but fascinated) by the Christian Right and the whole movement they have built up around anti-LGBT activism.

Also, there’s nothing to do in Maine, so it was either activism or drinking, and I don’t drink.

Don’t you do anything that’s not queer?

Of course! I love reading and I currently work as a website administrator. I love traveling, though I don’t really get to do quite as much as I would like to. And I like the same things most college students do; hanging out at 8pm on a Friday night watching Little House on the Prairie and eating copious amounts of Ben and Jerry’s (be quiet, you know you do that).

You seem kind of sarcastic.

That isn’t a question.

Are you sarcastic?

Uh, yeah.