City of West Hollywood and the LGBTQ Urban Evolution from 1986 to 2016

By Lizette Sainz

The city of West Hollywood is 31 years old.

City of West Hollywood Public Information Officer Communications Department Officer Joshua Schare said, “The city of West Hollywood was incorporated in 1984, by a unique coalition comprised of gays, lesbians, Russians, Seniors and others who advocated rent control.”

He continued, “The history of West Hollywood has the LGBTQ community, it is the foundation of the city. It was founded around the gay and lesbian community in the early 80s and activism went into the founding of the city in 1984.

“The gay community was a huge part of this area in the 70s, this is back when to the city was unincorporated territory. In the 60s and in the 70s there were large areas of Los Angeles County that were unincorporated and still are till this day.”

He added, “Russians who had left their Soviets States in the 70s, came as a wave of immigration into this particular area, there’s a huge Russian community in the eastern side of the city.”

It is hard to separate the city from its gay history, population-wise, more than 40 percent of the city is LGBT. The city is also filled with bars, restaurants, establishments, stores, and businesses, that cater to gay, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender people who live in or around the region, who come to West Hollywood to dance or drink on the weekend.

Schare said, “West Hollywood was the first city of its kind, it had openly gay council members as early as 1984 and that is still the case, there has always been an [openly gay] council member on the city council.

“One of the [current] council members, John Heilman, was one of the founding council members of the city.”

The city has five elected council members and a city manager who handles the day to day operations of the city.

Schared said, “The city manager, whose name is Paul Arevalo, handles the day to day operations of West Hollywood-City Hall. The five-city council members pass legislation, vote on initiatives, and then direct City staff, via the City Manager.”

“Lauren Meister is the current mayor, the council members all have their different issues that they like to work on.”

The city is one of the most progressive cities regarding LGBTQ issues.

It has always developed and implemented policies that promote the inclusion, safety, civil rights, and protection for lesbians, gay and transgender people.

As early as 1985 the city worked on early versions of domestic partnership policies that would allow people within the city to receive rights and protections of marriage, even before marriage was a possibility on the policy landscape.

“The city was an advocate for marriage equality and adopted local policies to support it,” Schare said.

Schare continued, “The city has a foundation for social services support, we spend about $5,000,000 a year out of the city’s general fund, that’s approved by the city council on regular basis, to support community organizations that provide direct services for people in our varied communities.

“The LGBTQ community is one of the communities that’s the most impacted by social services spending. We spend a lot of time, resources and attention on working to develop HIV prevention campaigns, provides resources and support.”

He added, “Many of these people are LGBTQ people who are living alone and need support to age in place in their apartment or houses in West Hollywood.”

The city offers aging in place support for all of its residents who are aging.

Because of the city’s LGBTQ community, it offers events that center around LGBTQ issues.

City of West Hollywood Communications Division Cathleen Cotter said, “We have an advisory board, it meets once a month and advises with the council on issues that pertain to the lesbian and gay community, also they usually have programming throughout the year, including Harvey Milk Day, One City One Pride, World AIDS Day, Transgender Awareness Month, monthly Outfest screenings, monthly discussion groups and book club, a Lesbian Speaker Series, a Human Rights Speakers Series, and more.”

Another event that the city is planning is, #BOOM, our New Year’s Eve party that we co-sponsor with several agencies, it is an alcohol and drug-free party, a lot of people who don’t want to drink or who are in recovery will go to this event,” Cotter said.

“I feel super lucky to be here, I think that this is a great place to be and where people are truly free to be themselves, and to be accepted for who they are […] We are all taken as who we are and don’t worry about labels, and I kind of see that as the future,” she added.

Working for a city that is very inclusive, and has a strong connection with issues in the LGBTQ community is especially important for Schare.

He said, “I’m gay, I’m happy to work here, this place […] it allowed me to do the work that I do, and to work on behalf of members who are from my community and that’s really gratifying nice work.

“It’s a really incredible to be part of [West Hollywood] whether LGBT or not there is a huge cross-section of people. The diversity in our city makes it unique because is not a traditional diversity city, diversity is a really exciting element of West Hollywood that makes it special, I love working here, I’m really proud to work here.”

Only asking for respect: a lesbian couple’s plea

“Hate has to stop controlling the world. Racism and judgment do not have to be part of our daily life. People should learn to respect other people’s lives and think of how they would feel if someone attacked their lives the same way they are attacking [the LGBT community], Rosalie Morales is part of the Los Angeles LGBT community center and she is fighting for respect.

Morales was attacked verbally when she was holding her girlfriend’s hand in Los Angeles.

Morales recalls what happened and how she felt, “I was walking with my girlfriend and someone yelled some disrespectful words to us. I have to be honest, I was in shock because no one never insulted me just for being lesbian. I know a lot of people and they always respected my decision. I mean there a lot of people who really respect the LGBT community, but there are also people who do not.”

Laura Gordoñes is Morales’s girlfriend, she also recalls the incident, “That day we both were shocked. We talked about [what happened], and we decided to do not pay attention to those kinds of comments.

“We thought we were actually prepared because we heard something like this happened in other countries, but to be honest we were in shock, and we realized we were not prepared to be insulted,” Gordoñes said.

Morales and Gordoñes have been in a relationship for three years, they said they are very happy because it is like other normal relationships. They both respect each other, and have an open communication to solve any problem.

Gordoñes added, “The truth is that people are never really prepared for being insulted. We have to learn to respect other people’s lives. At least that is what my parents taught me.

“Parents should teach their children that they do not have to agree with everything but they always have to respect others.”

Morales added, “We actually always talk about the people who insult us, but you want to thank the people who maybe do not agree with us, but at least they respect us.”

Not ashamed: facing family as a gay youth

“People judge you just because you are true to yourself. It does not matter what sexual orientation you are even for the most minimum detail in your life they are going to say something to hurt your feelings. Fight for what you want, do not let people put you down,” Alex Ramirez, a member of the Los Angeles Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender community center, said.

Ramirez continued, “I tried for so long to make other people happy being who they want me to be, but they never were happy because they always told me that I was doing something bad. Being someone who you are not is very difficult because it makes you miserable and [it] feels like your life is not valuable.”

He denied being gay just because he wanted his parents to be proud of him. He was very afraid of telling his family, but most important he did not want to disappoint his parents.

“I actually dated my best friend because I did not want my parents to find out about my sexual orientation. I tried so hard to fall in love with my best friend, but I couldn’t. She is a very awesome girl, she is smart, lovely, kind, but I cannot fall in love with her,” Ramirez said.

Alvaro Lopez is another member of the LA LGBT community center he said, “I always had very good communication with my mom, so she was the first person that talked to when I was sure I was gay.

“She helped me a lot because she started to talk with my father. She convinced my father that I was gay, and that there was nothing bad about with being gay. At the begging it was hard, but father understood after a couples of months.”

Lopez thought that his father was going to be very disappointed with him, and would never talk to him again.

“First, my father did not talk to me because he said that he did not know how to talk to me about this, but he was always going to love me. I was surprised to know that he did not talk to me because he didn’t know how.”

Both Lopez and Ramirez agreed that even though the situation was not what their parents expected from them, their parents support them and help them overcome most of the obstacles they have to face.

Label me Pansexual

“As I learned about other gender identities such as non-binary, I realized that I was attracted to people based on things besides gender, that gender didn’t hold much stock in the way I felt about people.”

This is how Midnight Byrnedavis, sociology major, recalls her experience as she became aware of her sexuality as pansexual. For Byrnedavis the journey to find a term that would adequately express her sexual orientation has been challenging. Looking back at her journey she believes that the lack of knowledge was prohibiting her from claiming her true self. Byrnedavis now identifies as pansexual.

“I believe that I have always been this way, but I always identified as bisexual before I became more educated and was able to find what my sexuality really is”

Byrnedavis recalls a time during her seventh grade when she encountered her first attraction to another female and how it was a difficult time because she didn’t know how to come-out to her best friend. She believed that her friend would have a negative reaction. However, when Byrnedavis declared herself bisexual, to her pleasant surprise, her friend didn’t seem to be affected by it. Her friend simply asked to whom she felt attracted to and moved on.

At the age of 17 Byrnedavis came-out to her parents and fortunately for her they weren’t bothered by it.

“I am very lucky to be surrounded by people who are accepting.”

Although, the people closest to Byrnedavis have been accepting, some others in her life haven’t been the same. In a previous relationship she was dating a male and when she told him that she was bisexual he immediately assumed that now he had to worry about keeping her away from both genders. When the parents of the aforementioned ex-boyfriend became aware of the situation they told him that she was ‘just going to cheat.’

“Being referred to as a cheater simply because I’m attracted to more than one gender is unfair.” Byrnedavis stated.

She has been fortunate to be surrounded by a supportive circle she expresses that most of the hurtful interactions have been with members of the cyberworld.

She describes that these interactions are often times not even in direct contact. “The negativity that I’ve experienced from things I’ve read on the internet, about bisexuals ‘not being able to make up their minds’ or ‘being greedy.’ For Byrnedavis and others these claims are hurtful and disrespectful because from her personal account they simply aren’t true.

She has found that these erroneous claims not only come from members outside of the LGBTQ+ community but also from within.

“Many people who identify as gay or lesbian strongly dislike bisexuals and pansexuals” she stated.

Through her dating experience she has noticed the difference in how people treat her simply because of how she identifies herself.

“Recently, it just kind of came to me that pansexual is what I am. Once I made that connection, I wasted no time in coming out again to my parents and to some of my friends.This is definitely who I am. I was very nervous about changing how I identified, worried that others would judge me or say that I couldn’t make up my mind.”

She was worried about the backlash that she would receive from identifying with a different orientation because it is very common for people to see them as undecided and greedy.

“It is in my experience that a lot of lesbian women do not want to date bisexual or pansexual women. On dating sites, I get very few replies or messages from women.”

According to healthresearchfunding.org “In a 2009 survey, bisexuals were tolerated only slightly more than intravenous drug users in a survey of self-identifying heterosexuals.”

This statistic demonstrates how much more there is to go in order to become more inclusive and the negativity that is expressed towards this particular community.

Byrnedavis like many others who are part of the LGBTQ+ community yearns for the day where we live in a more inclusive society.

“To people that have a hard time understanding the LGBT community, I just want to say, that this is how we are born. It’s not a choice to be gay, to be bisexual, to be transgender. It is just another way of being a human being. We’re all people, and deserve to be treated as such, not looked down upon or mistreated. As people we deserve all the rights and courtesies that straight and cisgender people have. If you truly don’t understand, let yourself be educated. There is always someone willing to explain things to you in a kind manner.” Byrnedavis concluded.

 

Attention: Gender is no longer dichotomous

Male and female terminology use to be easy to understand. In grade school, society often teaches society that gender is a simple concept like black and white; you’re either male or female- there is no in between.

However in 2016, the dichotomy of gender is no longer existent.

It is time to get informed and look beyond the male and female spectrum.

There are things that you can do to help the inclusion of other genders. Most importantly, immerse yourself in the issues.

These issues can be avoided if the public takes the time to get informed and empathize with the transgender community.

The lack of knowledge has become the blindfold that has not allowed for the advancement of the inclusion of genders beyond those so deeply embedded in our society.

Wake up! It is time that you understand the importance of all genders.

Don’t underestimate the power of knowledge, so learn the terminology. It doesn’t take long to search online. There are plenty of resources that can help you understand the basics of the complexity of transgender terms.

According to glaad.com, the term transgender in simple terms refers to a person whose gender identity differs from the gender assigned at birth. Gender identity is the internal personal sense of being. Gender identity is not dependent on physiological aspects.

When speaking of gender identity having a vagina does not determine that you’re a woman, neither does having a penis determine you’re a man.

With terminology also comes the complex topic of appropriate pronoun usage. Gender expectations are so deeply rooted in society that sometimes people find it hard to appropriate a gender to an individual.

If you find yourself debating which pronoun to use (she/he/them) stop your ignorance and ASK!

A person prefers that you seek to know their gender identity instead of having you incorrectly assume it.

Making the effort to become more knowledgeable is a way to become more inclusive. By asking someone’s gender you’re making an effort to recognize them as members of your society.

Terminology isn’t the only problem that members of the transgender community face. There is discrimination by both cisman and ciswoman in not accepting a transgender individual as “entirely” male or “entirely” female because of physiological differences.

This is offensive and undermines the identity of the individual. One person can’t determine another person’s gender. Gender identity is a personal choice.

What Cerritos College is doing

ASCC senate is currently looking into the prospect of including gender neutral bathrooms across campus. The issue was put forth by Jessica Faye Summers.

Summers, a transgender woman, has been a vocal advocate about the issues that transgender students face on campus. She emphasizes the need to make Cerritos College a more inclusive and safe space for her community.

With 1.4 million transgender people currently reported, we can see why the issue must be addressed.

Summers has also been victim to verbal and physical assault; the need to make sure she and others are safe is of vital importance.

Along with the gender neutral bathroom initiative, ASCC Senate has approved Title IX Ambassador Task Force. While other groups on campus tackle similar issues, the Title IX Task Force will be here to specifically enforce the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of gender in any federally funded education program or activity. This group also plans to outreach to members of campus who have suffered from sexual assault, domestic violence, discrimination, and hate crimes.

What you need to do

There are great strides to be made to reach full inclusion of the transgender community, people need to realize that the first step is to become informed.

Whether you agree with the concept or not, that’s no one’s concern.

What is concerning is that you treat people with the dignity and respect that they deserve.

Being transgender means going through a transition in which a person emerges from their assigned gender into their preferred identified gender. It is important to recognize that the transition is often times not smooth, however, YOU have the power to become a more tolerable and understanding person with those that surround you, but it will take YOU to make the decision to become that person.

Discriminating, hating, hurting, violating, and assaulting someone just because you believe that their gender isn’t the “right” one is not -and will never be- okay.

Los Angeles LGBT Center

Los Angeles LGBT Center offers a lot of help to people who need to know how to deal with their identities.

Many people who are part of the LGBT community are afraid of how the people around them it will treat them after they show how they really are.

Jose Martinez is brother of Maria Martinez, who is part of the LGBT community, Jose claims, ” first it was very difficult for me to know that my sister was lesbian, because I never really have something like this in my life. I actually remember the day that she told. I was playing video games and I remember see my sister nervous. I asked her what was wrong, but she said ‘everything is fine.’ I did not believe her because i can see in her face that she was very worry and scare at the same time.”

Jose Martinez also receive therapy to understand her sister. The center also give family therapy to help families to understand the LGBT relative. Martinez confirms, “I decide to go to the therapy because I love my sister so much. I remember see some of her friends bother her, even though I was mad not at her, to be honest I really do not with who I was mad, but I never gonna let anyone to hurt her. That’s why I decide to take the therapy because i realize in that moment that i really love her. I cannot let my sister be alone in this.

The center help the entire family to get through the process of accepting their new lives.

Also Mario Rodriguez who is Luis Rodriquez’s brother articulates, “I remember seeing my bother sad. I mean he was not entirely happy even though he always try to do the same things that I did like had a girlfriend. I remember that when my parents asked him why he has not have a girlfriend, he always get nervous and just told that ‘he did not find the right one’ but I really believe him.”

Mario also was part of the therapy sections to help his bother. Rodriguez relates, “I was in shock, when I found out that my bother was gay. I have a gay friend, too, but when my brother told, it was hard to believe.”

both Mario and Jose, attend to the family therapy because they love their siblings and just want to help them.

Gender, sexuality and gender neutral restrooms are an ongoing conversation at Cerritos College

by Max Perez

The second of four Gender Neutral Restroom forums took place on Wednesday Nov. 30, where the people in attendance would help participate in voting for the signs that will be placed on the new restrooms.

The forum was led by Valyncia Raphael with two guest speakers from the Angel Step Up program, Rachel Price and Cindy Tamayo.

While the purpose of the forum was to vote on the signs that Cerritos College will use for the gender-neutral bathrooms that will be placed on campus, the guest speakers from Angel Step Up used some time to further educate the audience on gender and sexual identity.

All three speakers gave a speech about the issues before allowing the members of the audience to break into smaller conversations and vote on the matter.

The forum audience contained about 15 people who involved themselves in the conversation.

“I though the turnout was great,” Raphael said. “We had a perfect amount of small group discussion, which is really important for the topic.”

All the votes from the four forums will be tallied to decide the signs that will be used when the restrooms are placed on campus.

Every place that provides public service is required to have a gender neutral restroom put into place by March. 1 next year, but Cerritos hopes to have their signs put into place close to the start of next semester.

Although the forums did not bring in a huge number of people, attendees believe that they accomplish their goal.

Theater major Isaac Simons -Araya said, “I think the information spreads to the people that are here, there are people that will tell other and explain it as well as share resources.”

The forum began with Raphael explaining the purpose of the forum and providing some information on gender identity and gender expression before Angel Step Up victim advocate Cindy Tamayo addressed the audience to provide more information.

The next to speak was lead victim advocate Rachel Price who delivered a personal testimony.

She spoke of her experiences being a member of the LGBTQI community during the 1980s and provided insight on what she went through.

She closed out her testimony with advice for those in the audience before being seated to a round of applause.

“I understand that times have changed, ” she said. “The experiences I had shouldn’t be what I being experienced, now we’re in 2017, we have a lot of help available.”

After the speakers delivered their speeches the audience members were broken down into groups and asked to discuss certain topics that included; What can we do to make the campus safe for all Falcons?

Raphael felt that the small group portion of the forum was beneficial.

“I think some of these concepts are things that people haven’t talked about ever, so I think having more interactive small conversations really help people process the information,” she concluded.

Finding myself: The Los Angeles LGBT community center helps members find inclusion

LGBT community is surviving after years of persecution. It has been treated with shame, and suppression for centuries.

Member of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender community center in Los Angeles Maria Martinez said, “I was born like this. I am not ashamed, but at first, many people made me feel like I was weird. When I told my friends about being Lesbian, I found out that I don’t have many true friends.”

She suffered bullying from many people that she though were her friends. “the person that I thought was my best friend was the one who started bullying me.

“I was afraid to tell my parents because my family is a really traditional Mexican family. It is very conservative. They are not ‘open-minded’ to accept me.”

After years of suffering bullying from other people, she found out the Los Angeles LGBT community center. There she found others who treated her as an equal.

” I am very happy to find this center because they help me to understand that being Lesbian is alright. I don’t have to pretend to be someone else.”

Luis Rodriguez is also part of the Los Angeles LGBT community center.

He states, “when I was little I always felt different. I don’t know how to explained, but I wasn’t interested in the same things like my brother.”

The LGBT community has one battle in common it fights for respect and equal rights.

Both Martinez and Rodriguez agree on one thing, “I did not decide to be born like this, but I have decided to fight for my rights and the respect of others.”

The center helped both to reconstruct their self-esteem because they were low esteem because of all the bullied that they receive.

The therapy helped to accept themselves just like they really are. Martinez agrees, “at some point in my like I really feel ashamed of myself because I thought that I was my parents’ shame because I was not like my parents want. I try to be like my brother. I started to do the same, but it did not make me happy.”

Also they receive advises of how to talk with their families and understand them, too. The said that they also win a new family and they are very happy to be part of the LGBT center of Los Angeles. Rodriguez express, ” I am glad to be part of the Los Angeles Center because now I know who I am, and also have truth friends. My parents accepted me exactly like I am because they love me.

Safe Zone provides allies for LGBTQ community

Photoillustration Photo credit: Perla Lara

Perla Lara
October 18, 2016
Filed under College Life

The Safe Zone program is not just another sign that is posted around campus.

For undecided major Jessica Summers, it is a comforting sign that reminds her there are people on campus who will understand her individual struggle as a transgendered student.

Summers said, “I recently came out. It was just a few months ago and I didn’t want to start the school year as not being myself. I was a little terrified because it was going to be one of my first true experiences in society with people I’m going to see every single day.

“Early in the semester I ran into Amna Jara, Student Activities coordinator, I was like ‘hi’ and she didn’t recognize me and I explained to her who I was and it clicked and that’s when I found out about the campus being a safe campus […]

“I started noticing all the little signs that say where it’s a Safe Zone and where I can go to if I need help or anything.”

The person responsible for starting the Safe Zone Program is now the Safe Zone Program Coordinator Lance Kayser.

He explained how the Safe Zone program was started on campus, “In fall 2012 I wanted to create a Safe Zone here at Cerritos, so I started talking to my dean [ David Fabish, Dean of Liberal Arts] and one of the VP’s who’s no longer here at Cerritos and they were both supportive.”

“So I worked with human resources to begin the process, the first part was we created a committee with different people […] who were all invested in making sure Cerritos was a safe space for students, particularly LGBT students once we did that we began first by [going to] Cal State Long Beach and we did its Safe Zone training first to go through it ourselves and to get ideas and [Cal State Long Beach Safe Zone program was] very nice and giving and it allowed us to use some of the programs objectives, which are the following:

• Have Safe Zone allies to utilize gained knowledge and skills to foster a supportive and safe atmosphere for LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff.
• Have Safe Zone training participants become part of an identifiable campus network of Safe Zone Allies.

Kayser said there are about 275 faculty members, staff, administrators and about 90 students that are a part of the ally network.

Those individuals have three main things that are tasked to-do according to Kayser:

• First is to listen, if someone comes to you with an issue or a question just listen sometimes that’s all that is needed.
• Second is to help if you can, if there is something that you can directly do to help them, obviously you’re going to do it.
• Third is to refer, if you get a question or an issue that you can’t solve […] then you would refer to the Health Center if they need testing or if they need psychological services, or some other service, we also have on the [Cerritos College Safe Zone] website http://cms.cerritos.edu/safezone/ services outside of the campus as well.

Title IX Coordinator Valyncia Raphael experienced and completed the Safe Zone training she said, “We did some activities and had some discussions based on what it might be like for a student that is identified as LGBTQ.

“What’s it like to have a really really big part of [their] identity that is hidden from people, and how hard it might be for someone that’s in the closet or not out.

She added, “Some of the exercises try to help us empathize with someone who might be in the closet and become familiarized with terminology and some realities of the LGBTQ identity.”

Empathy and acceptance is what Summers wants to have from her peers and her teachers, “I just want acceptance, I just want when people look at me they see who I am, when I tell them that my name is Jessica they don’t question me and be like ‘that’s your name?’”

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education issued a dear colleague letter where examples and guidance were provide on how to be compliant with the Title IX regulations.

Raphael’s position as the school’s Title IX coordinator implements regulations that prohibit sex discrimination in educational programs and activities. It also prohibits discrimination based on a student’s gender identity and discrimination based on a student’s transgender status.

Some students on campus do not know about the Safe Zone program or the Title IX regulations.

In the future, Raphael plans on creating a group with students to work on Title IX issues that students on campus have.

Interested students should e-mail Raphael at vraphael@cerritos.edu their contact information and state they would like to be a part of the group.

Undecided major Sebastian Lopez said he did not know that the campus had a Safe Zone program.

However, he stated, “I figured it would be like that [have a program that prohibits discrimination] and it should be like that.”

Zoology major Sara Hernandez also did not know about the Safe Zone program on campus.

She said, “There should be equal rights for everybody […] I feel like everybody respects each other, respects everybody’s decision.”

Summers states, “It’s understanding, it’s acceptance that’s what I want from my peers, I just want the acceptance and so far, I’ve gotten it.”

However, there is one issue that Summers is asking help with, that is feeling comfortable using the women’s restrooms on campus.

She realized that using the restroom was an issue when she was talking to her friend and asked, “Which bathroom can I go to that has the least foot traffic and I didn’t realize that I asked that so she told me and I went and the bathroom that I ended up going to was very busy, but I had to go and I didn’t want to go find another bathroom, […]

“Then it dawned on me that’s an issue, that’s a problem, I had to ask these things which bathroom am I not going to find people because I feel uncomfortable because I don’t want to upset anybody? And I shouldn’t have to feel like that.”

Both Raphael and Kayser are looking into the school designating single stall bathrooms which anyone who feels the need for more privacy can use.

Summers concluded “I’ve been so thankful to a lot of people here on campus for reaching out to me, and talking to me, seeing that’s an issue and trying to help me do something about it.

To them I say thank you because there is no way I could have taken my classes this semester and done the work to my potential behind all of the stress, behind you know, figuring myself out.”

Call me Jessica Summers: A transgender student’s struggle to be respected

Jessica Faye Summers a transgender student advocating for transgender acceptance her new name is the start of creating her identity as a woman. Her new first name Jessica begins with the initial for birth name she wanted to have a connection to her birth name, Faye means fairy comes from the T.V. show Lost Girl, and her last name Summers comes from the movie 21. Photo credit: Perla Lara

Perla Lara
October 25, 2016
Filed under College Life

William Shakespeare wrote “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” His famous quote suggest that a name is not important that it is the essence of a thing, a rose, or a person that matters.

However, names are tied to a person’s identity, acknowledging a person’s name is the most basic way of acknowledging who someone is. It is giving someone the most basic form of respect.

For Jessica Faye Summers, undecided major, obtaining even that small amount of respect is a struggle. Having her identity as a woman acknowledged and accepted by friends and family members is a fight she faces on a daily basis.

“There are still days that I wake up and I’m just, I realize that if I just kept living my life the way I was I wouldn’t have all these issues I wouldn’t be fighting for what I’m fighting for I wouldn’t be struggling with society with friendships with just everything in general.”

Summers is a transgender student who realized that her biological male gender was not who she was.

Being transgender was not a realization that Summers reached automatically it was only after several years, many conversations about her identity, and a lot of introspection on who she was that she came to the conclusion that she was a woman despite being born with a male body.

“Well I guess I can say it kind of really started in high school, I always really had this kind of what everybody called ‘metro look’. I was very pretty I took care of my hair, my clothes, my nails, my eyeliner, my mascara when I went out with friends, things like that […]

“I was kind of into the whole emo, punk goth scene and it just kind of fit so I never really thought too much of it.”

She continued, “I loved the industrial [fashion] you know nice tight clothing, really fitted […] I kind of started in high school, I was very feminine at times the way I’d walk around the way I’d use my hand gestures, they’d be a little feminine but it was just something that I would do that’s all I thought of it.”

It was only with her then fiancé Ashly Campbell that Summers had discussions about gender identity.

Campbell said, “It was a lot of digging that we really didn’t really reflect on.”

Summers said, “It was just a discussion, but it really didn’t go anywhere. It was just kind of something [Campbell] touched up on and then just kind of left on the back burner and after we talked about it that was the end of it for some time.”

It was only seven months ago that Summers came to the realization and accepted that she was a woman and had to live her life expressing herself as a woman.

Summers recalled the moment that she realized who she was.

“About seven months ago I was sitting at home watching T.V.[…] I was just sitting there I was watching anime and I realized that I wanted that. I was looking at these characters these female characters and I envied women because they could portray these characters the way that they are meant to be portrayed and it’s like I physically cannot because of my physic and it just it infuriated me.

“I realized this and that’s when I came over [to Campbell] and we started talking about it and little by little [she] mentioned it could be something more like an alter ego and I went home with that idea.”

Summers continued, “The idea of it didn’t quite settle with me that it was just an alter ego it was just something else, you know, a pen name, something that I choose when I want to because that’s not what it was and the more I thought about it the more the more it was there.

“The more I realized that to me it’s not just a pen name, it’s not just an alter ego, it’s not just something that I choose to be when I choose to, I realized that I was a woman. I was a woman and it is who I am.”

Summers had to face her family and let them know that she no longer was the son they had given birth to and raised.

“My siblings know and my parents know […] my mom hasn’t spoken to me in three months um my dad talks to me still but it feels a little distant […]

Campbell who has been Summer’s support throughout her difficult times said, “Be honest about your feelings too, you’ve cried in the car with me Jessica.”

Summers acknowledged, “I cry, I do and it’s difficult because you know I come from a Hispanic background and culturally it’s very family oriented, so I’m used to that, suddenly I don’t have that anymore suddenly you know family is nearly nonexistent.

“I have my brother and my sister and one other family member that knows and that is it I don’t have a mother and my father I’m pretty sure he’s just still in shock still in denial and it’s painful.

“Even though I have friends, even though I have the support of the school, faculty, […] when you lose something that big what can you do?”

Campbell has known Jessica for about 10 years, “He was my first boyfriend and I met her when I was 13 so I was absolutely head over heels for Ricky. [now Jessica]”

“Jessica, she’s a lot different than Ricky. Ricky was unhappy and had no direction in life but I feel that through this transition Jessica feels like a full person.

“And I think that a lot of that has to do with the fact that she was repressing her true identity, and you can’t feel complete unless you are completely who you are. So aside from all of the horrible things that she has to go through I’ve never seen her so alive and so passionate and driven to do something that she really wants to invest her life in.”

Family is not the only loss that Summers has had in the past seven months.

She has also faces a loss of trust in the friends she thought would respect her new life as a woman.

Through tears Summers recalled how someone she only described as her male best friend attacked her.

“We were having a really good time and it was for one of our friend’s like early birthday that’s why you know we had a drink on Wednesday [Oct. 19].

“Suddenly [her male best friend] and another friend were you know going off on this tangent on pop culture and what not and it’s like ok they’re doing their thing.

She went on, “My other friend was sitting there kind of quietly you know, where’s the inclusion what happened there, so you know kind of just turn over to him and I put on my phone a little bit of music.”

“He turned over to me and grabbed my hand very forcefully in a very assertive manner squeezing it to the point where just pulling away isn’t going to cut it, you know he’s gripping on to me making sure that I acknowledge him in a sense.

“So I ignored him and in doing so he then uses my name, a name that I haven’t gone by in nearly seven months. You know a name that is a part of my past, he wasn’t calling me Jessica and he was doing it on purpose because he knew that it would hurt me.”

The first time, Summers believed it had been a slip and when it happened again she knew it was being done on purpose.

“Between the second and third I told him ‘excuse me,’ so he grabbed my hand even tighter, he looked me dead in the eye and repeated it a few more times, then grabbed my phone and chucked it across the street.

“I’m trying to avoid any conflict I’m trying to keep my composure, […] ,so I get up you know of course in bit of anger, I don’t even remember what I told him but it wasn’t even aggressive it was more so assertive. [ I ] tell him that I’m not going to stand for that, I’m not going to stand to be disrespected and if that’s the way it’s going to be then that’s it.”

Summer’s aggressor took this as a signal to start a fight so he shoved her.

“I am in heels at this point and I mean I have fallen plenty of times, I know how to fall. I know how to contort my body so that I can make sure I know where I’m going to land so I can reduce the damage to my body.”

Summers noticed that she was going into a fence with steel metal bars and spikes.

“Had it not been for me trying to look for where I was landing, God knows if I’d even be sitting here right now. I slammed my face, I was already bleeding from three different places, my lip was [injured], I needed stitches, it was deep and even still he was calling out at me, not just my other name but he was still calling out at me.

“So at that moment thankfully one of my other friends being a security guard and a bouncer, a rather larger fellow, restrained him and pulled him aside because he was basically standing in front of the entrance in front of the gate.”

“What I did next is […] I’m not too sure quite frankly for some reason had it been anybody else, I wouldn’t have hesitated but I told him that he better be f*cking glad that I am not calling the cops,” Summer said.

As a result of the attack she now has nine stitches, five on her lip, three on her cheek, and one on her eyebrow and a bill for $120 for the emergency room.

Through all the struggles Summers will continue to be an advocate for the transgender community.

She said, “Out of 23,000 students, statistically, there’s no way that I’m the only one. So to [transgender students] say life is hard there’s going to be people that we believe we can trust but we can’t, and there’s going to be those that you think you can’t trust but the truth is you can it’s just an endless struggle.

“At the end of the day it’s staying alive, it’s fighting, it’s knowing who you are and why you wake up every morning because there is somebody out there that will listen to your story there is somebody out there that will hold your hand and let you cry on their shoulder.”

Campbell supports Summers in her efforts to advocate for the transgender community.

Campbell said, “I hope that Jessica through her efforts and her journey for the transgender community, if she doesn’t change minds, I at least hope she opens minds around the campus […] I hope people will at least be willing to open their minds and see her as human and as a person just like themselves their best friend or their family.”