This past week, Brandeis celebrated Trans Awareness Week with a variety of events aimed at educating the student body about the needs of the transgender community, as well as the challenges it faces. The week was co-sponsored by TransBrandeis and the Intercultural Center.

Trans Awareness Week is a nationally celebrated week that promotes awareness of the transgender community. According to the website of Fenway Focus, a group dedicated to serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community of Boston's Fenway neighborhood, Trans Awareness Week was first started by the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition to advocate for the transgender community. This year, the week was celebrated nationally from Nov. 11 to Nov. 17. It was recognized and celebrated at Brandeis between Nov. 18 and 24; this marks the third time Brandeis has celebrated the week.

The dates differed for Brandeis, according to Sara Brande '15, the coordinator of TransBrandeis, because it was believed that having them cover an entire academic week would be a more effective way of reaching out to the community. TransBrandeis is a branch of Triskelion, Brandeis's umbrella LGBTQ group, which focuses on the transgender community at Brandeis.

Brande said in an interview with the Justice that the week had seen a great showing from the community, and that the events had been "very well received."

Jessica Pedrick, the program coordinator for sexual and gender diversity at the Intercultural Center, said in an interview with the Justice that the week was a strong success. "There seems to be a large interest in trans awareness on campus," she said.

Pedrick said she mainly served in an advisory capacity for the week, meeting with representatives for each event to finalize details and ensure the proper resources were available and "supporting them any way they needed."

On Monday, Nov. 19, the Queer Resource Center handed out cookies and informational pamphlets outside of the Usdan Student Center in an effort to promote Trans Awareness Week itself and general information about the transgender community to students.

The event on Tuesday, Nov. 20 was the Trans Awareness Week Coffeehouse, which occurred in the ICC Swig Lounge. The coffeehouse received a "strong showing of support from the community," Brande said, and featured performances including a cappella groups, sketch comedy and individual acts.

The ICC hosted an "Allies Brown Bag Lunch" on Wednesday in the Swig Lounge, which featured a discussion about the variations in gender identity and expression. The event was very successful, according to Pedrick, as a diverse group of individuals attended, including undergraduate and graduate students, and various staff members from the Interfaith Chaplaincy and the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, among others.

The brown bag lunch also "promoted the ICC," Brande said. "People don't always visit the ICC, and events like this help expose them to what it can offer," she added.

On Thursday, the Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil took place in the Trisk Lounge. There, the names of some of the victims of transphobic murders were read aloud in a memorial service for the 238 reported victims of the past year. Brande said that this event was particularly difficult, as the number of victims "is 238 too many."

On Friday afternoon, Trans Awareness week joined the Peace Vigil at the Peace Circle for a ceremony promoting peace among all people.

The final event of the week, Queer Swim, occurred on Sunday at the pool in the Joseph M. Linsey Sports Center. From 2:15 to 4:15 p.m., any person was able to use the male, female and handicapped locker rooms and pool entrances in an effort to promote gender inclusivity.

"Basically, anyone [could] use whichever entrance they prefer to identify with," said Brande. "It is a great way to make the space more gender inclusive."

Yesterday, a follow-up event called "Allies Topic Training: Coming Out" was held from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Swig Lounge.

This discussion centered on how an individual can be a supportive ally, specifically with the challenges that follow when an individual considers whether to "come out" and disclose their sexual orientation, sexual preference or gender identity.
Trans Awareness Week is not the only focus of TransBrandeis, however. A major initiative the group has focused on for two years has been implementing gender inclusive bathrooms in public buildings. "There are already gender inclusive bathrooms in many of the residence halls, which is great" said Brande. "The next step is pushing for more [gender inclusive bathrooms] in public buildings around campus."

According to Brande, there are only four gender inclusive bathrooms in public spaces: one in the Intercultural Center, one in the Shapiro Campus Center and two in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management.

Pedrick told the Justice that this initiative was "well under way," and that "the majority of the leg-work has been done, and now we have to compile the information into a report."

She estimated that a motion would be submitted to the administration sometime during this academic year.
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