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• 1 media/IMG_2850.jpeg 2022-06-06T07:11:49-07:00 What does it mean to be Trans? 27 gallery 2022-08-18T11:02:28-07:00 Trans is an umbrella term used to describe people who's lived experience with gender run counter to societal expectations of how they are expected to be perceived. A trans man is a person who's gender was assigned female at birth but now identifies as a man, while a trans woman is a person who's gender was assigned male at birth but now identifies as a woman.
  Gender is the societal framework of traits, behaviors, and expectations that people use to explain their identity. While virtually everyone has a gender, Trans people feel a disconnect from their gender assigned at birth and generally a desire to change it in some way. For some people this involves changing aspects of their sexed bodies to better align their bodies with how they feel, this can be from a combination of medical--surgical and hormonal interventions--or social changes--clothes, name, pronouns. The decision of what aspects of transition are necessary to affirm a person's gender are specific to each individual person. Some people decide to transition to relieve a discontent and discomfort with their gender, dysphoria, while others transition in the pursuit of feeling more content and happy with their gender, euphoria. While both of these are valid justifications for transition, often established systems tend to focus exclusively on relieving gender dysphoria at the expense of people who are instead seeking gender euphoria.
  Most people tend to fall into the categories of either men or women and as a result trans people are often expected to transition from their gender assigned at birth to the conventional opposite. Many identities however exist outside of that dichotomy, generally under the umbrella label of non-binary. 
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  Transness through history                            What does it mean to transition                   Gender
  
  
  
• 1 media/IMG_2722 copy.jpeg 2022-06-06T07:11:05-07:00 What does it mean to be a Lesbian? 21 gallery 2023-04-20T06:07:19-07:00 Out of all of the commonly recognized queer communities, lesbians have been among the most visible for the longest time, and have gone through the most radical change in culture. Existing primarily as a word for the experience of women loving women, inside the community lesbians have been challenging gendered labels, presentations, and expectations longer than anyone. As queerness has diversified however, culture has homogenized leading to the disappearance of some of the key traits that once marked the community, such as Lesbian specific bars, a strong alternative community in response to societal rejection, and a semi-rigid system of roles. While today the term lesbian provides identity to many people, one can only imagine what it will mean to be a lesbian in the future.
  Lesbians represent a significant challenge to cultural norms and expectations for the role of women in society by decentralizing the role of men in their relationships allowing for a greater diversity of experiences. As a consequence of this, lesbians have historically faced a significant amount of stigma forcing them out of most spaces. This, however, encouraged lesbians to build their own culture and define the roles they want to pursue in society.
  Lesbians Through History           Lesbians and Queerness                             
                     
  
  
• 1 media/IMG_2725 copy.jpeg 2022-06-06T07:13:23-07:00 What does it mean to be Queer? 7 gallery 2022-08-17T13:27:38-07:00 Queerness as a framework for identity has only recently entered popular discourse as a framework for identity, previously existing as a fringe element of even the queer community. For a community based on the ideas of inclusivity, sometimes queerness hasn't lived up to its goals, but recent discourse and communication has made queerness a lot more accessible as a resource to help everyone. Broadening labels have expanded diversity in the community and allowed space to discuss other people who exist outside of societal norms including intersex people, asexual people and more. 
  In this space we'll explore the ever-expanding diversity of the queer community under the umbrella of queerness.
  
  Intersex People               The Ace Spectrum                Queerness around the world