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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_3019.jpeg 2022-06-06T07:11:37-07:00 What does it mean to be Bisexual? 21 gallery 2022-09-30T08:03:27-07:00 Of the four primary groups that make up the LGBT acronym, bisexuality traditionally is the most overlooked due to its perceived adjacency to heterosexuality. On the flip-side, their adjacency to queerness have made them outcasts throughout history amongst the straight community. Ultimately however, bisexuality represents the queer ideal of complicating traditional perceptions of how sexuality is expected to exist, allowing for a person to love whomever they love regardless of societal expectations placed on them. 
  Bisexuality is defined as the experience of loving both, people of the same gender, and people of different genders. Another similar but different sexuality, pansexuality, describes the experience of loving people in spite of their gender. Both Bi- and Pan- sexuality can include trans and nonbinary people, depending on the person.
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• 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_2895.jpeg 2022-06-06T07:11:21-07:00 What does it mean to be Gay 15 gallery 2022-08-17T12:36:55-07:00 Gayness for many people is an entry into understanding queerness, so much so that it has grown to be, itself, an umbrella term for the queer community. Gay in the traditional sense is a label for men who love other men. Fundamentally, though gayness represents a rejection, by men, of societal expectations of power and control in favor of love. Traditionally men carry an expectation of performance of gender roles and as such are more severely punished for expressing femininity than women are for expressing masculinity. Gay men actively defy this expectation in their culture with events such as drag shows which allow people, predominantly gay men, the space to challenge gender roles, as well as establishing their own social gathering spaces which allowed them the space to interact out of the public eye.
  The gay community also faced some of the most difficult trials such as the AIDS epidemic when millions of gay men died while most of society refused to care. They have been subjected to countless hate crimes, and targeted government harassment. Today, the gay community represents one of men making space for themselves and being unafraid to live as their complete selves.
  
  Why it's important for Gay men to be visible