0:00:04.626,0:00:06.418
In May of 2014,

0:00:06.435,0:00:10.762
Time Magazine said that our society[br]had reached the transgender tipping point.

0:00:11.182,0:00:14.341
And that was the headline[br]on the cover of the magazine that month,

0:00:14.342,0:00:18.287
and they paired that with a photo[br]of actress Laverne Cox.

0:00:18.810,0:00:20.756
And you may know Laverne Cox's name,

0:00:20.757,0:00:23.168
she is the actress who plays Sophia Burset

0:00:23.181,0:00:26.721
on the incredibly popular Netflix show[br]"Orange is the New Black".

0:00:27.706,0:00:29.959
Now, I often talk about Laverne Cox

0:00:29.960,0:00:35.279
because she has a pretty important[br]position in terms of the acting world.

0:00:35.280,0:00:36.979
She is one of the few people

0:00:36.980,0:00:40.673
who plays a trans character,[br]but is also trans herself.

0:00:40.674,0:00:42.964
She identifies in the same way[br]as her character.

0:00:42.965,0:00:45.727
So Sophia identifies[br]as a transgender woman,

0:00:45.728,0:00:48.499
and Laverne Cox holds that same identity.

0:00:48.500,0:00:50.754
Now, lots of people know Laverne Cox,

0:00:50.755,0:00:52.675
which is why I bring her up often

0:00:52.676,0:00:55.987
when I do trainings[br]about transgender identity.

0:00:55.988,0:00:59.041
But, in those trainings,[br]questions quickly emerge,

0:00:59.042,0:01:03.014
and those questions tend to revolve[br]around language and words.

0:01:04.349,0:01:08.846
So here is just a handful,[br]a tiny sliver of words

0:01:08.847,0:01:10.738
that the trans community uses

0:01:10.739,0:01:14.541
to talk about[br]their own experiences of gender.

0:01:14.542,0:01:17.388
And again, there are lots more out there

0:01:17.389,0:01:19.840
than just the ones[br]that you see on this screen.

0:01:19.841,0:01:23.385
We could fill up this screen,[br]and fill up many, many TED talks

0:01:23.386,0:01:26.032
with just talking about[br]these different identities.

0:01:27.005,0:01:29.281
But I bring this up

0:01:29.282,0:01:33.855
because the trans dictionary[br]is not complete, and it's changing.

0:01:33.856,0:01:36.268
So if these words,[br]you've never heard these before,

0:01:36.269,0:01:38.068
I'm not surprised.

0:01:38.701,0:01:43.390
Right now, online, the trans community[br]is still making new words

0:01:43.391,0:01:47.537
to describe their experiences[br]and describe their own ideas

0:01:47.538,0:01:49.790
about their gender identity.

0:01:49.791,0:01:51.861
And that's what's amazing right now,

0:01:51.862,0:01:53.709
and potentially some of the reasons

0:01:53.710,0:01:57.277
why that Time Magazine piece talked about[br]the transgender tipping point.

0:01:57.278,0:02:01.289
The Internet allows trans folks[br]to access each other

0:02:01.290,0:02:03.736
in ways that's amazing.

0:02:03.737,0:02:06.068
So communities have started to be built

0:02:06.069,0:02:09.043
in really dramatic and impressive ways.

0:02:09.044,0:02:13.573
And because these trans folks[br]are able to connect with one another,

0:02:13.574,0:02:16.858
language has emerged,[br]and language has evolved.

0:02:17.593,0:02:22.078
Let me situate myself[br]in this conversation.

0:02:22.079,0:02:25.908
I identify as a female-to-male trans man.

0:02:25.909,0:02:28.928
So that means for me,[br]that I was assigned female at birth

0:02:28.929,0:02:32.083
though that didn't really jive

0:02:32.084,0:02:36.043
with how I thought of myself,[br]and how I existed in the world.

0:02:36.044,0:02:38.125
I was raised in Alabama,

0:02:38.126,0:02:40.687
which, if any of you know[br]anything about the South,

0:02:40.688,0:02:44.242
the South has very specific ideas[br]about gender;

0:02:44.243,0:02:46.424
very specific ideas about what it means

0:02:46.425,0:02:49.464
to be masculine or feminine,[br]or male or female,

0:02:49.465,0:02:52.356
and I didn't really fit into those ideas.

0:02:52.357,0:02:54.067
And that was OK for a while.

0:02:54.068,0:02:56.492
I existed in sort of a tomboy space,

0:02:56.493,0:03:00.062
for most of my young adulthood,[br]or my young childhood,

0:03:00.063,0:03:02.238
and I didn't get a lot of flack for that.

0:03:02.239,0:03:04.354
I wasn't really bullied all that much,

0:03:04.355,0:03:07.388
until about middle school, junior high.

0:03:07.389,0:03:10.467
And that's really when I got[br]the very clear message

0:03:10.468,0:03:12.731
that I was not performing my gender

0:03:12.732,0:03:16.092
in the way other people expected me to.

0:03:16.093,0:03:20.607
And I tried to modify it;[br]I tried to meet people's expectations,

0:03:20.608,0:03:24.832
but I just failed over and over again[br]because it didn't feel genuine to me.

0:03:24.833,0:03:26.401
It didn't feel right.

0:03:26.402,0:03:28.794
But I had no idea how to talk about that.

0:03:28.795,0:03:33.110
I didn't have any words to understand[br]what that meant for a long time.

0:03:33.643,0:03:37.059
Until I was about 23, 24 years old.

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So those of you who are in your 30s,

0:03:39.292,0:03:42.449
- the "old folks" in the room[br]to the high school students -

0:03:42.450,0:03:44.072
you might remember

0:03:44.083,0:03:47.333
an early social media platform[br]called LiveJournal.

0:03:47.334,0:03:50.916
LiveJournal was a place[br]where relatively emo kids like me

0:03:50.917,0:03:54.257
would talk about our parents,[br]and how mean they were,

0:03:54.258,0:03:59.409
and I would moan and groan[br]over the new Dashboard Confessional album.

0:03:59.410,0:04:00.915
(Laughter)

0:04:00.916,0:04:03.909
But it was also a place[br]where you could connect with folks.

0:04:03.918,0:04:06.700
You could connect with folks[br]who shared your identities,

0:04:06.701,0:04:08.795
or shared interests that you had.

0:04:08.796,0:04:11.212
So you had your own personal blog page,

0:04:11.213,0:04:14.871
but you also had a space[br]where you could join community groups.

0:04:14.872,0:04:19.916
One day, while I was just roaming[br]through LiveJournal, bored after class,

0:04:19.918,0:04:25.616
I found a page dedicated[br]to talking about FTM trans people.

0:04:25.617,0:04:29.853
I found a blog entry by this kid[br]who was my same age,

0:04:29.854,0:04:31.496
and his name was Blake.

0:04:31.497,0:04:35.601
He was talking about how he came[br]to understand his gender identity,

0:04:35.602,0:04:38.165
and the words that he used to describe it,

0:04:38.166,0:04:42.090
and his journey on how he understood[br]what it meant to be

0:04:42.091,0:04:45.072
a transgender person[br]and a transgender man.

0:04:45.073,0:04:47.591
Within the course of that one blog entry,

0:04:47.592,0:04:50.332
my whole idea of myself shifted.

0:04:50.333,0:04:52.315
I had finally found language.

0:04:52.316,0:04:55.725
I had finally found the words[br]to understand myself

0:04:55.726,0:04:57.689
through the words of someone else.

0:04:57.690,0:05:01.535
I had never had that before,[br]and it was incredibly powerful.

0:05:01.536,0:05:04.468
Because language is super important.

0:05:04.469,0:05:08.476
Language is crucial[br]to understanding ourselves,

0:05:08.477,0:05:12.272
and understanding the position[br]that we hold within society.

0:05:12.832,0:05:15.755
So any of you who have tried[br]to learn a new language,

0:05:15.756,0:05:19.562
or you grew up in a household[br]where multiple languages were spoken,

0:05:19.563,0:05:24.451
you know the importance of shared[br]definitions and shared meanings of words.

0:05:24.452,0:05:27.539
But even though we might speak[br]the same technical language,

0:05:27.540,0:05:31.717
it doesn't mean we understand[br]the words that a cultural group may use

0:05:31.718,0:05:33.478
that we don't belong to,

0:05:33.479,0:05:37.242
or the way that language evolves[br]and changes over time.

0:05:38.021,0:05:41.726
So I want to talk about some of these[br]terms that were on that earlier slide,

0:05:41.727,0:05:44.100
and I'll start with[br]the term "transgender".

0:05:44.101,0:05:47.574
Transgender was coined in the 1960s,

0:05:47.575,0:05:50.827
though it didn't really get adopted[br]for wide use

0:05:50.828,0:05:53.561
until the late 1980s to 1990s.

0:05:53.562,0:05:56.755
And there's lots of different definitions[br]of transgender out there,

0:05:56.756,0:05:59.733
but my personal favorite[br]is the one that's on the screen.

0:05:59.751,0:06:05.416
This is from Susan Stryker,[br]she's a trans author, historian, activist,

0:06:05.417,0:06:09.542
and she says that her understanding[br]of the word "trangender",

0:06:09.543,0:06:13.666
it's "the movement across[br]a socially imposed boundary

0:06:13.667,0:06:16.709
away from an unchosen starting place."

0:06:17.614,0:06:20.714
And the reason why I like[br]this definition so much

0:06:20.715,0:06:25.677
is that it highlights that I didn't get[br]to pick where I started from.

0:06:25.678,0:06:30.581
I was born female assigned at birth[br]and was raised accordingly.

0:06:30.582,0:06:35.348
But it does highlight[br]that you can move away from that.

0:06:35.349,0:06:38.554
And often, when we talk about[br]trans folks moving away

0:06:38.555,0:06:40.436
from that unchosen starting point,

0:06:40.437,0:06:42.353
we're talking about transition.

0:06:42.354,0:06:45.297
And the term "transition" can mean[br]a lot of different things.

0:06:45.298,0:06:47.195
There's no one way to transition,

0:06:47.196,0:06:49.937
and there's no one right way to be trans.

0:06:49.938,0:06:55.597
But transition often refers to social[br]transitions and medical transitions.

0:06:56.337,0:06:59.564
So a social transition involves[br]essentially the coming out process:

0:06:59.565,0:07:03.785
discovering for yourself, "What are[br]the words that feel comfortable for me?",

0:07:03.786,0:07:06.191
"How do I think about my gender?",

0:07:06.192,0:07:08.670
and then communicating that[br]to other people.

0:07:08.671,0:07:10.145
Be it saying, you know,

0:07:10.146,0:07:12.482
"My name is Jay now,[br]I want you to call me that,

0:07:12.483,0:07:15.302
and I want you to use male pronouns[br]when you refer to me."

0:07:15.303,0:07:17.401
And claiming a transgender identity,

0:07:17.402,0:07:19.818
whatever that might mean for the person.

0:07:19.819,0:07:23.569
And a medical transition[br]refers to medical interventions

0:07:23.570,0:07:25.398
that you could do to your body.

0:07:25.399,0:07:28.594
Medical interventions are vast,

0:07:28.595,0:07:30.680
there's lots of different types of them,

0:07:30.681,0:07:33.864
but not all trans people want[br]or need medical transition.

0:07:33.865,0:07:38.045
So, some trans folks say,[br]"This is absolutely necessary."

0:07:38.046,0:07:42.063
"I need access to this kind of care[br]to feel comfortable with my body,

0:07:42.064,0:07:44.674
to align my body[br]with the way that I think,

0:07:44.675,0:07:46.850
align it with my mind."

0:07:46.851,0:07:48.914
But again, not all trans people do this.

0:07:48.915,0:07:51.693
So there are some folks[br]who say, "I don't need that."

0:07:51.694,0:07:55.699
"I feel OK with my body; I don't need[br]to necessarily modify it too much,"

0:07:55.700,0:07:59.733
- lots of different variations of the way[br]that folks can medically transition.

0:07:59.734,0:08:02.108
But I'll also put a caveat in here

0:08:02.109,0:08:05.574
that medical transition is expensive.

0:08:05.575,0:08:07.822
It's not covered under health[br]insurance often,

0:08:07.823,0:08:10.586
so it's out of pocket expenses.

0:08:10.587,0:08:13.397
We're talking about often[br]medically necessary care

0:08:13.398,0:08:15.727
that people have to pay for themselves.

0:08:15.728,0:08:18.416
And this can range[br]anywhere from 5,000 dollars,

0:08:18.417,0:08:23.228
on the low end of the various[br]surgical procedures that are out there,

0:08:23.229,0:08:27.381
upwards to 30,000-50,000 dollars[br]for just one procedure.

0:08:27.382,0:08:31.451
So this is cost prohibitive often[br]as well for some folks.

0:08:31.452,0:08:33.678
So it's not for everyone,

0:08:33.679,0:08:37.438
not every trans person goes through[br]a transition in exactly the same way.

0:08:37.438,0:08:39.519
But let's get back to some of the words

0:08:39.520,0:08:41.817
that we were talking about[br]on that earlier slide,

0:08:41.937,0:08:44.148
and let's get back[br]to some historical words

0:08:44.149,0:08:46.987
that you may know[br]about the trans community.

0:08:47.669,0:08:51.423
So there have been a lot of words that[br]have been used to refer to trans folks,

0:08:51.424,0:08:53.525
and some of them[br]have fallen out of fashion.

0:08:53.526,0:08:55.888
Some of them are not being used widely.

0:08:55.889,0:08:58.595
And some of these words[br]can even be harmful and hurtful

0:08:58.596,0:09:00.374
for trans folks to hear.

0:09:00.375,0:09:03.334
So I'll talk about the term[br]"transexual" in a minute,

0:09:03.357,0:09:05.407
but I'll start with "transvestite".

0:09:05.408,0:09:09.536
So the term "transvestite" was used[br]widely in the 60s and 70s

0:09:09.537,0:09:12.598
among transgender communities[br]to refer to themselves.

0:09:12.599,0:09:15.456
It was a word that trans folks adopted.

0:09:15.457,0:09:16.761
And even to the point

0:09:16.762,0:09:21.671
of one of the earliest social movements[br]that we know of for transgender people

0:09:21.672,0:09:23.908
included the word[br]"transvestite" in the name.

0:09:23.909,0:09:28.339
"STAR" stands for Straight[br]Transvestite Action Revolutionaries.

0:09:28.340,0:09:31.684
This group which was started[br]by two of the pioneers

0:09:31.685,0:09:34.275
in terms of transgender[br]history in the United States,

0:09:34.292,0:09:36.251
Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera,

0:09:36.252,0:09:38.553
was a New York City-based group

0:09:38.554,0:09:43.234
that advocated for young trans,[br]queer, people of color,

0:09:43.235,0:09:46.638
folks who were experiencing[br]homelessness and poverty,

0:09:46.639,0:09:50.371
in an attempt to advocate for the cause.

0:09:50.372,0:09:53.541
So this word was used[br]as an affirming term,

0:09:53.542,0:09:57.834
though, con temporarily,[br]this term is largely offensive.

0:09:57.854,0:10:02.386
The term "transvestite" is not used[br]by and large really at all today

0:10:02.387,0:10:05.367
within the modern transgender community.

0:10:06.959,0:10:09.418
We'll go back to the word "transexual".

0:10:09.459,0:10:13.043
"Transexual" as a term is[br]really the oldest word that we have

0:10:13.044,0:10:15.289
to refer to folks who feel

0:10:15.290,0:10:18.738
that their body doesn't align[br]in the same way as their mind.

0:10:18.751,0:10:23.291
So, "transsexual" con temporarily[br]is still used, and it refers to

0:10:23.292,0:10:26.245
someone who wants[br]to undergo medical transition

0:10:26.246,0:10:28.436
or who has undergone medical transition.

0:10:28.437,0:10:33.131
And "transsexual" is a word that has a lot[br]of baggage for the transgender community.

0:10:33.132,0:10:34.792
Some folks in the community say,

0:10:34.793,0:10:37.936
"That's the word that I use,[br]that's how I understand my gender."

0:10:37.937,0:10:41.853
Other folks say, "I really dislike that[br]word; it makes me feel uncomfortable."

0:10:41.854,0:10:44.366
And I tend to fall[br]on the "I don't like this word;

0:10:44.367,0:10:47.308
it makes me feel uncomfortable"[br]side of that coin.

0:10:47.309,0:10:51.246
For me at least, the term "transsexual"[br]has the word "sex" in it;

0:10:51.247,0:10:55.777
that kind of makes us think[br]"trans" is not really a gender identity,

0:10:55.778,0:10:59.229
but it has something to do with[br]sexuality and sexual orientation.

0:10:59.230,0:11:03.202
And for me, that feels gross;[br]it feels kind of icky.

0:11:03.203,0:11:06.399
Though I would never tell another[br]person, another trans person,

0:11:06.400,0:11:09.149
say, "You can't use that word[br]because I don't like it."

0:11:09.167,0:11:13.589
If someone identifies[br]as a transsexual, cool, no big deal.

0:11:13.590,0:11:17.579
I don't identify as a transsexual;[br]I prefer the term transgender myself,

0:11:17.580,0:11:19.642
but I'm not going to tell another person

0:11:19.643,0:11:22.380
what words they should use[br]to describe themselves.

0:11:22.381,0:11:23.890
But I will caution you

0:11:23.891,0:11:26.921
that the term transsexual[br]is probably not the best word

0:11:26.922,0:11:28.922
that you should use on a day to day basis

0:11:28.923,0:11:30.430
unless you know

0:11:30.431,0:11:34.380
that that person identifies[br]as a transsexual instead of transgender.

0:11:35.429,0:11:37.862
So this idea about language though;

0:11:37.863,0:11:40.931
I want to come back[br]to contemporary thinking about language

0:11:40.932,0:11:42.763
in the trans community.

0:11:42.764,0:11:44.421
There's a number of different ways

0:11:44.422,0:11:48.054
to think about the words[br]that the transgender community uses,

0:11:48.055,0:11:52.048
and I want to pose a suggestion[br]as to how we can think about it.

0:11:52.049,0:11:54.631
So, we can think about[br]transgender identities

0:11:54.632,0:11:59.501
as binary transgender identities[br]and non-binary transgender identities.

0:11:59.502,0:12:01.122
Two different ways to think about

0:12:01.123,0:12:04.474
trans folks and the way[br]that we think about our genders.

0:12:04.475,0:12:07.333
So when I say "binary", I'm referring to

0:12:07.334,0:12:10.843
when we have two categories that are[br]completely opposite of one another,

0:12:10.844,0:12:13.279
never the twain shall meet.

0:12:13.280,0:12:15.948
So, we live in a very binary world:

0:12:15.949,0:12:18.978
male-female, gay-straight, black-white,

0:12:18.979,0:12:21.956
especially as it relates to gender.

0:12:21.957,0:12:24.081
We have a lot of assumptions about gender

0:12:24.082,0:12:27.196
based on this binary idea[br]that there are only men and women,

0:12:27.197,0:12:29.226
and they are two totally different groups

0:12:29.227,0:12:31.717
that don't have anything in common[br]with one another.

0:12:31.718,0:12:36.999
We have trans identities[br]that myself and other folks

0:12:37.000,0:12:41.707
who work in transgender activism[br]are starting to call "binary identies",

0:12:41.708,0:12:45.792
so I consider myself to have[br]a relatively binary trans identity:

0:12:45.793,0:12:48.133
I transitioned from female to male.

0:12:48.134,0:12:52.217
There are other folks[br]who transitioned from male to female.

0:12:52.218,0:12:56.714
Celebrities like Janet Mock,[br]Caitlyn Jenner,

0:12:56.715,0:13:00.298
and Laverne Cox[br]who we talked about earlier,

0:13:00.299,0:13:03.120
but also there are trans men[br]who are relatively famous

0:13:03.121,0:13:04.836
like Chaz Bono.

0:13:04.837,0:13:08.067
The media talks about binary identities

0:13:08.068,0:13:10.537
as it relates to transgender people.

0:13:10.538,0:13:15.648
This is largely why we don't often know,[br]non-binary identity folks.

0:13:15.649,0:13:19.750
Because I think,[br]my understanding of this is

0:13:19.751,0:13:24.543
that binary identities reinforce[br]our gender ideas.

0:13:24.574,0:13:28.072
They make sense; we don't have[br]to challenge a bunch of stuff

0:13:28.073,0:13:31.132
to talk about binary identities[br]like I have;

0:13:31.133,0:13:34.433
it's something that folks[br]can wrap their minds around

0:13:34.434,0:13:36.172
with a little bit of education.

0:13:38.032,0:13:40.463
But what the media leaves out

0:13:40.464,0:13:44.304
are folks who essentially give[br]a big middle finger to the binary.

0:13:44.305,0:13:46.816
They say, "Screw your ideas about gender.

0:13:46.817,0:13:51.267
"The ideas we have in society we have[br]about gender are essentially stupid,

0:13:51.268,0:13:54.639
and I want to make them--[br]I want to mess them up."

0:13:54.640,0:13:58.627
Non-binary identities,[br]there's a list of some of them here

0:13:58.628,0:14:00.695
- I'm not going to define all of them.

0:14:00.696,0:14:02.342
You all have the Google machine;

0:14:02.343,0:14:04.773
you all have the power[br]to look these things up -

0:14:04.774,0:14:06.657
but I'll give you a couple examples

0:14:06.667,0:14:10.001
of folks I know who have[br]these non-binary identities.

0:14:10.597,0:14:14.160
So first, as someone who identifies [br]as a non-binary trans woman,

0:14:14.161,0:14:18.162
she lives in California, [br]she's a college student in her 20s

0:14:18.163,0:14:20.317
and works at a local nonprofit

0:14:20.318,0:14:23.403
that works with high school[br]gay-straight alliances.

0:14:23.403,0:14:26.453
And for her, being [br]a non-binary trans woman

0:14:26.454,0:14:30.472
means that she blurs [br]the line of femininity.

0:14:30.472,0:14:33.805
She mostly presents [br]in relatively feminine ways,

0:14:33.805,0:14:38.814
she goes by a feminine name,[br]she wears typically female clothes,

0:14:38.815,0:14:42.025
but combines those feminine attributes

0:14:42.026,0:14:47.085
occasionally, with completely rocking out[br]a mustache and a goatee.

0:14:47.086,0:14:50.560
Because for her, she's not just feminine.

0:14:50.561,0:14:53.514
And to think about herself [br]in just that narrow way

0:14:53.515,0:14:55.795
seems inauthentic to her.

0:14:55.795,0:14:59.284
She wants to embrace her whole self, [br]and that involves her facial hair.

0:15:00.035,0:15:05.208
Another example of a non-binary identity[br]is a friend who I know from the South,

0:15:05.209,0:15:07.518
and they identify as agender.

0:15:07.518,0:15:10.795
They use [br]the gender-neutral pronoun "they"

0:15:10.796,0:15:12.954
- it's not a binary gender term -

0:15:12.954,0:15:15.911
and for them, they say,[br]"I don't have a gender.

0:15:15.912,0:15:19.825
"I am genderless, or gender is at least[br]not a very important part of my life;

0:15:19.826,0:15:23.309
it's not a way [br]that I think of myself primarily."

0:15:23.310,0:15:27.966
So these non-binary identities are[br]challenging our ideas about gender

0:15:27.966,0:15:32.266
in ways that binary identities[br]sometimes don't do as well.

0:15:32.266,0:15:34.084
They are constantly saying,

0:15:34.085,0:15:39.134
"Your understanding [br]of gender in the world is silly,

0:15:39.134,0:15:42.412
and we don't need it;[br]we can live outside of these boxes."

0:15:43.232,0:15:45.165
So what does all of this mean?

0:15:45.165,0:15:48.008
What do you do [br]with all of this information?

0:15:48.008,0:15:52.496
I have some suggestions for you[br]and some advice, if you'll indulge me.

0:15:52.496,0:15:55.430
The first is listen and learn.

0:15:55.430,0:15:59.078
Listen to trans folks[br]when we talk about our experiences,

0:15:59.079,0:16:03.105
listen to how we say the words[br]that are important to us,

0:16:03.106,0:16:05.084
reflect those words back to us,

0:16:05.085,0:16:08.222
and be comfortable learning new things.

0:16:08.222,0:16:12.181
Lots in the landscape of trans identities[br]could be relatively new.

0:16:12.182,0:16:13.541
Be OK with that.

0:16:13.542,0:16:16.581
It's all right; we'll all [br]get through it together.

0:16:16.581,0:16:18.355
Challenge assumptions,

0:16:18.356,0:16:21.677
Challenge those things that nag you[br]in the back of your head,

0:16:21.678,0:16:23.234
and you don't know why.

0:16:23.235,0:16:25.798
So stop thinking about [br]people's body parts

0:16:25.799,0:16:27.471
or what their name used to be,

0:16:27.472,0:16:30.402
or what's really going on with them.

0:16:30.403,0:16:32.212
Take people at their face value.

0:16:32.213,0:16:35.755
Someone says that this is [br]how they identify, be cool with that.

0:16:35.755,0:16:38.672
And when you think about [br]binary identity ideas,

0:16:38.672,0:16:40.405
try to challenge those.

0:16:40.406,0:16:43.517
And say, "Those don't necessarily matter."

0:16:43.517,0:16:45.229
And be an ally.

0:16:45.230,0:16:48.888
Just like the transgender[br]dictionary has changed over time,

0:16:48.889,0:16:50.658
the word "ally" has undergone

0:16:50.658,0:16:54.417
a pretty massive transformation[br]in the past five years.

0:16:54.417,0:16:58.749
Among activist circles, [br]"ally" used to be this identity term:

0:16:58.750,0:17:01.745
"I'm an ally," and you get to claim it.

0:17:01.745,0:17:03.552
Almost like a noun.

0:17:03.553,0:17:07.139
"Ally" is no longer a noun.[br]"Ally" is more thought about as a verb.

0:17:07.139,0:17:11.445
"Ally" is something that you earn.[br]You do something to become an ally.

0:17:11.445,0:17:13.915
You can also think about an accomplice.

0:17:13.915,0:17:17.567
An ally means being an accomplice[br]with the trans community

0:17:17.567,0:17:20.505
not just sitting on the sidelines saying,[br]"Yeah you do that,"

0:17:20.505,0:17:22.550
but it's being active and involved.

0:17:22.550,0:17:27.583
So ways that you can be an ally involve[br]showing up at trans events.

0:17:27.583,0:17:31.144
Omaha has a large and thriving trans[br]community and we do stuff.

0:17:31.144,0:17:32.786
Feel free to come.

0:17:32.787,0:17:37.694
When you're invited, we'd love to have[br]folks come to transgender events.

0:17:37.695,0:17:42.028
Speak up for us [br]when we can't maybe do it for ourselves.

0:17:42.028,0:17:45.324
Don't speak over us, don't speak for us,

0:17:45.324,0:17:48.075
but sometimes it's unsafe [br]for us to speak out,

0:17:48.083,0:17:51.822
and call someone when they're doing stuff[br]that's a little transphobic.

0:17:51.822,0:17:55.235
So you might be better positioned [br]to do that than I might be.

0:17:55.235,0:17:57.668
It might be really unhealthy [br]for me to do that,

0:17:57.668,0:18:00.544
but you could do that with relative ease.

0:18:00.544,0:18:05.547
And also, now that you know better,[br]do better and help all of us

0:18:05.547,0:18:07.805
not just some of us, break through.

0:18:07.805,0:18:08.849
Thank you.

0:18:08.849,0:18:09.878
(Applause)