As a professional speaker one of my favorite engagements is when I get to travel to University Campuses across the US and talk with the students. I love college campuses because the reasons people are there is to learn, expand horizons and discover parts of their identity. I went to college after living in a rural town in Nebraska which was composed of a population not more than 4,000 people. I was a kid that hadn't been exposed to anything outside of caucasion, rural- famer life. Studying anthropology and taking in my surroundings, I quickly realized how amazing humans are, and how diverse cultures need respect.
My degree in anthropology is what has given me the strength and courage to talk about my personal life and have it exposed in national or rural multimedia.
The coverage that my talk at KSU-Salina has raised is by far, the most coverage I've ever seen. This makes me even more excited to go down there and talk with students, faculty/staff and community members.
I hope we can all grow from this experience.
Salina Jouranl: http://www.saljournal.com/news/story/K-State-transgender
K-State Collegian: http://www.kstatecollegian.com/news/transgender-speaker-denied-funding-at-salina-campus-1.1942822
http://www.kstatecollegian.com/news/salina-group-asks-to-host-transgender-speaker-1.1940626
I'm also looking forward to educating individuals on language. Transgender is an adjective, not a noun...transgendered is not a real word. Man and Woman deals with Gender Identity, not biological sex. So to say that I was a woman and now am a man, is actually incorrect. Man and Woman relate to Gender Identity, Male/Female relate to Biological Sex. Sex and Gender are not the same thing.
I'm done....for now.
