I graduate soon. After graduation comes this whole job thing. Like real jobs.

So I got a job.

Awesome!

Sweet!

Fabulous!

AWKWARD.

I got a job that requires a 2 week new employee training. I show up the first day and I vaguely know one of the people, though he didn't know my name. We go around, all introduce ourselves, and I introduce myself as Andy. I told the employer I was trans, and it's not an issue with them, but I figured I'd play it safe and not say Andrew immediately. We got through almost the whole day without anybody asking anything. Then, during a break in the last training session of the guy I vaguely know says "So, do you have a preferred pronoun? I noticed you didn't really respond earlier when I said 'she'"

I said "yes, I do."

He responded "do you mind sharing?" and kinda smiled.

After a minute I figured... what the hell. So I said "I usually prefer people use he/him/his." He nodded, smiled again, and said OK. One of the other people at the training was not nearly so nonchalant about it. She was visibly confused, but didn't say anything.

And then I left. I go back Monday. I'm expecting more questions then.

What are your experiences with being out as trans in an employment situation?

Hello guys! My name is Danny Thomas and i attend Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. I am a junior Majoring in Sociology with a minor in Sociology in sexuality studies. I plan to work in a field where I can work with Teenagers and educate them on various things that they are aften sheltered from learning about. Being there as a mentor for them as they go through some of the toughest years of their life. I am a huge social justice advocate who realizes that I am a person of color who will face discrimination and this could affect my future. I am also aware that this is no excuse to not get invovled and keep fighting for social justice. I am a member of various organizations where i am able to fight fir under privlegded groups in this country. I serve as a very actuve volunteer for The Mu Crew, which is an organiztion made by the AIDs Resource Center. I also serve as an active member of Wight States Rainbow Alliance. Along with those grups i am apart of the black student union and black men on the move. I am very proud of all my identies which include a Black Bisexual Christian Man. I wouldnt have it anyother way. Why you ask? Because i get the chance to get invovled with things like campus pride and the other organizations I listed. Being able to blog about my Experiences on my campus as aprt of the GLBT community and as a person of color is very exciting to me because i beleiv everyone has stories, and trust me i have a lot to tell. Things happen to me everydya and being able to blog about them here is very excited because there are really good things, and really bad things that others should know about. So I look forward to shoring and i hope you all learn something from me as i blog for this site. Peace out!

ROAR! That is WELCOME in Lion speak.

I am Cris the Campus Pride Mascot. I joined the Campus Pride family during the 2007 Campus Pride Summer Leadership Camp. Camp 2009 is happening right now! You can follow us on all the happenings right here on the blog. Though I am there with them the Pride Leaders will be doing the reporting from the field, so be sure to give them support by reading their posts and commenting on them! ROAR! GO CAMP!

So right now you may be asking yourself why does Campus Pride have a mascot and secondly why is it a Lion. Well, I have a story for that! We all have stories, right? It all started when the Campus Pride staff put out a call for a Mascot. Here is the posting the staff posted on a mascot job site in 2007:

Campus Pride is looking for a very outgoing, positive, and visionary Mascot. This Mascot will be the symbol of what Campus Pride is and needs to go both inside and outside the organization, as well as be able to embody all of the LGBT Communities through the work you will do. This Mascot must also believe and follow the Campus Pride Values:

• Utilizing the diverse talents of student leaders.
• Giving students a voice and action in leadership.
• Empowering student leaders for positive change in society.
• Building stronger LGBT and Ally communities on college campuses.
• Celebrating and recognizing diversity.

The responsibilities for this position include:

• Serve on the leadership team to ensure all staff members follow and live up to the values of Campus Pride. (listed above)
• Represent Campus Pride at all events, conferences, etc that Campus Pride officially attends.

Well, I tend to not be very great at these introduction things, so hopefully I come off at least mildly interesting. Or enough of a train wreck that you want to come back and read my blog to see what happens. Either way works for me as long as you come back. So, from the beginning…

My name is Stefan (pronounced like Stephanie without the –ie), and I am from Kansas – the Kansas City area, to be more precise. I’m a 23 year-old student at the University of Kansas studying sociology. I grew up in suburbia surrounded by “perfect” suburban families – the good WASP-y types with a mom, dad, 2.5 children, a golden retriever, and a perfectly manicured lawn. I was the kid who lived across the street from the perfectly manicured lawn in an apartment with my mom and older brother. As you might imagine, a healthy dose of disdain mixed with jealousy for the WASP lifestyle colored my formative years. That was my life for 18 years. Fast forward…

*trigger warning - this post will contain discussion of hate crimes*

Angie Zapata was an 18 year old transwoman who was murdered last July. She was murdered because she was trans - when her attacker found out that she was anatomically male below the belt, he killed her.

Her murderer's trial began on Tuesday. This trial is coming at a crucial time. Angie Zapata's murderer will be tried for murder, identity theft, auto theft, and with a bias-motivated crime. The bias-motivated crime is really important here - federal hate crimes legislation is being introduced that includes both sexual orientation and gender identity.

The HRC website has a lot of information on hate crimes, hate crime legislation, and what laws currently exist in which states.

Currently 12 states (Washington just passed a law on April 9th!) and Washington DC include gender identity and sexual orientation in their hate crimes statutes and 30 states include sexual orientation but not gender identity.

Keep an eye out for what's happening with hate crime legislation nationally and in your state.

For a lot of us that were active in any kind of a GSA in high school we probably at least heard of GLSEN's Day of Silence. I participated every year from 8th-12th grade. In my first year of college we really didn't have any kind of organized LGBT group, but then I spent a year at a community college and we tried to do day of silence, but it didn't really work. Now at my current school we have a really active LGBT group, and just an active campus in general. Last year we tried to do Day of Silence and we kind of concluded that we didn't really need to - on our tiny campus in Maine (under 300 students) it didn't seem necessary - we weren't personally being discriminated against on campus in any way. This year we're just going to do a silent lunch, and put out some fact sheets around campus.

But it got us thinking - how do you keep people active as a community when we feel like we don't have much to fight for on your campus or if your school already has coed housing, gender neutral bathrooms, no name calling, and lots of people who are out on campus, from professors to maintenance folks? It seems like our group kind of dies by the end of every year, simply because people feel like we aren't needed on campus.

We have had a few things that have worked out really well for us, and we'd love to hear more!

• Pick topics for your meetings that people can discuss without having personal experience
• Hold lots of events to bring in other campus community members, like movie nights, dance parties, and things like that
• Sponsor events with other student groups to get a larger turnout
• Be open to change
• Get involved in the larger community you live in - it doesn't even have to be LGBT related; you can help at a soup kitchen or clean up effort just as a group
• Let people know you welcome ideas

Let us know how you keep people active on your campus!

Hey everyone! It’s my turn to let you know a little bit about me. Sorry for the delay; it’s the end of the school year where I am and things are a little bit crazy. My name is David and I am a second year student at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI. I am double majoring in Communication Studies & Gender / Women’s Studies, and double minoring in English & Nonprofit Leadership. Believe me, that sounds a lot more impressive than it really is - that’s why I like it! I plan on working in the LGBTA community, hopefully with a national organization doing media work (hint, hint GLAAD! ;). At my school, I’m the new president of our LGBTA student group OUTspoken and for the past year I’ve been their secretary. I have also been involved with our LBGT Student Services office as a panelist and facilitator in our speakers bureau, SpeakOUT. In addition to both of those, I’m a tour guide and “telecounselor” (meaning I call prospective students) as part of WMU’s awesome Student Ambassador Program. I do a LOT of LGBTA “stuff” as I like to call it, and starting in June I’m going to be an intern with Michigan Equality working on the human rights ordinance battle here in Kalamazoo (more info here on that and I guarantee you I’ll rant about it once May comes). I pretty much devote all of my time to LGBTA stuff, my classes, and my job as a Student Ambassador. I’m one of those college students that has NO social life, but I love what I do and that makes up for it. I found out about the Campus Q Team after our LBGT Student Services office selected a group of us to go to the Campus Pride Summer Leadership Camp, and got involved from there. If you want to know more, PLEASE talk to me!

Greetings everyone! So now it is my turn to tell you a little about myself. My name is Amy and I am a fourth year student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in the Central Coast of California. My major is Elementary Education; however, I plan on either being an event planner or continuing to work with the LGBTA community. I currently am a student coordinator at my school’s Pride Center. I am also the President of my school’s GSA, which we call Spectrum. On top of those, I am also a part of the Campus Q team for the Western Region. I found out about the Q Team from attending Campus Pride’s Summer Leadership Camp in 2008. While I am involved in all of these things, my story is different than a lot of people you will meet who are also involved. I am an ally. I have been involved with the LGBTA community since about 2001. When I am not devoting all of my time to LGBTA related things, I am the manager of my school’s wrestling team. I also love country music and go line dancing frequently. I live about 20 minutes from a few different beaches so I am often there on a sunny day. If you would like to know more about me, please feel free to ask! I would love to chat with you!

The Obama Administration will join 66 other countries and sign the UN Gay Rights Document that calls for the decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide. The document was originally introduced in December during the Bush Administration and declares that there shall be an end to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. When it was introduced the US was the only western country not to endorse it.

Um, can I get a woohoo? I'm not saying Obama is perfect, but he's a far sight better than the last 8 years. Bush was elected for the first time in, what, 2000? I was in the middle of 8th grade. He's the only president I, and most of my friends for that matter, really paid attention to in terms of policy issues. We came of age with a president who many of us felt did not respect us or stand for our rights, values or personal freedoms. So, in this sense? Yeah, Obama rocks.

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?