By Alesia Passaro
Janet Mock, trans rights activist and author of Redefining Realness, gave a presentation before spring break advocating for trans rights recognition and equality. Janet is a highly regarded figure associated with change in the trans woman community. In her extremely open and honest memoir, she takes her audience through her growth and her journey into womanhood. Redefining Realness helps to inspire young members of the trans community to embrace their individuality and accept themselves for who they are.
Janet opened up her presentation by acknowledging that she was only “standing on the shoulders of giants.” Many other powerful trans women of color, before Janet’s time, made it possible for her existence to be considered acceptable. Janet included a long lost video of one of the first trans rights activist–Sylvia Rivera. Rivera stormed the stage and within a matter of minutes, told the audience of her life full of hate and prestigious (i think she meant prejudice??). Rivera exposed how she has been thrown into a male jail, despite identifying as a woman, and was raped and beaten for being who she was born to be. The activist was able to transition her audience from a crowd of “boos” to a crowd of supporters.
Though years of effort have been put into the fight for equality, trans women are only just beginning to be accepted in present day. Janet shed light on the murders and attacks on trans women in broad daylight and how some of these women die unidentified because their families’ have exiled them. Trans women have been trained to live in fear, because the most common route of acceptance is violence.
Janet’s resounding message at the end of her presentation was a simple: acceptance. Lives of thousands of trans women around the world are jeopardized because present day society cannot accept them for who they are; knowledge and understanding are the only things that can change this.
Janet held a 15-minute question and answer section and book signing after her presentation. In addition to working on a second book, Janet also has her own new segment on MSNBC.