{"id":54694,"date":"2023-10-18T16:44:58","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T20:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=54694"},"modified":"2023-11-02T13:44:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T17:44:43","slug":"queer-student-alliance-welcomes-tori-cooper-for-keynote-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/queer-student-alliance-welcomes-tori-cooper-for-keynote-address\/","title":{"rendered":"Queer Student Alliance welcomes Tori Cooper for keynote address"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whether it\u2019s terms like transgender or nonbinary or the outside of a condiment jar, Tori Cooper<\/strong> says labels can be helpful to a certain extent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHorseradish looks just like mayonnaise, so a label is good because it helps you differentiate between them,\u201d Cooper told a crowd at Common Grounds Coffeehouse on Tuesday night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere can be a great place for labels or it can be incredibly limiting,\u201d she added. \u201cA label you use today may not apply tomorrow, or three years from now, or graduate school or as you start a family.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Tori Cooper, keynote speaker, leads a discussion on the history of transgender and nonbinary identities.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Cooper, a Black transgender woman who serves as director of community engagement for the Human Rights Campaign\u2019s Transgender Justice Initiative<\/a>, spoke at EMU\u2019s LGBTQ+ History Month keynote. As a member of the President\u2019s Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS<\/a>, she is the second-highest ranking transgender woman in the U.S. government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The health and equity advocate told the gathering of 135 people about the history of the transgender community. She discussed key definitions of gender and transgender identity and reviewed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooper said it was especially important for her to provide a historic context for transgender identity, as she presented slides of some historical figures who would have identified as transgender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrans is not new,\u201d she said. \u201cIt just might be new to some of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event not only attracted students from EMU but also from other colleges and universities throughout the region. Following her presentation, Cooper engaged in a fireside chat with nine EMU students who shared their experiences of living with queer or transgender identities. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Tyler Williams, a junior who identifies as transgender, shares his experiences on Tuesday. “It was really cool to have such an ‘out’ speaker and nice to have someone as prominent as she is,” Williams said.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

One of those students, Sarah Peak<\/strong>, a junior, spoke about how she had fought a losing battle trying to turn the Queer Student Alliance at her high school into a school-sanctioned club. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery single time we applied for it, we were denied,\u201d she said. \u201cThat just goes to show you that even though you\u2019re \u2026 allowing students to voice themselves, we\u2019re still severely restricted in schools in what we can do and what we can say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the students participating in the small-group discussion spoke positively about how EMU embraced who they are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riley Quezada<\/strong>, a senior on the leadership team for the EMU Queer Student Alliance<\/a>, said they did not come out until their first year on campus. But once they did and expressed their preferred pronouns, they felt like a different person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t someone who was closed-off and unapproachable,\u201d Quezada said. \u201cI am now more approachable and I am now more of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Tori Cooper engages in a fireside chat with EMU students who identify as queer or transgender.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Dawn Neil<\/strong>, coordinator for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, celebrated the event\u2019s success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe support that we got from the community, from our students, from faculty and staff that were here, it was very inspiring,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neil reached out to Cooper about a year ago and explained how EMU supported its students. Hearing about that support convinced her to speak, Neil said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTori was impressed with how students’ voices are listened to on campus and with what was going on with the transition from Safe Space to QSA,\u201d Neil said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EMU QSA, recently renamed from Safe Space, is a group for empowering queer voices and LGBTQ+ activism on campus. This is the second time the office of DEI and QSA has hosted a keynote speaker in recognition of October as LGBTQ+ History Month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is our first big event with the new name and new leadership, but with the same spirit,\u201d Quezada said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether it\u2019s terms like transgender or nonbinary or the outside of a condiment jar, Tori Cooper says labels can be helpful to a certain extent.  \u201cHorseradish looks just like mayonnaise, ... read more about Queer Student Alliance welcomes Tori Cooper for keynote address<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":54698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4513],"tags":[17910,6795,17907,17908,17906,17911],"feature":[17241],"class_list":["post-54694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-life","tag-dawn-neil","tag-diversity","tag-riley-quezada","tag-sarah-peak","tag-tori-cooper","tag-tyler-williams","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nQueer Student Alliance welcomes Tori Cooper for keynote address - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/queer-student-alliance-welcomes-tori-cooper-for-keynote-address\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Queer Student Alliance welcomes Tori Cooper for keynote address - 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