Campus and Bloomington-Normal organizations in support of LGBTQIA+ rights brought forth their full support for transgender and queer students at Illinois State University with a Day of Trans Resilience.
The Queer Coalition, PERIOD. at ISU, Central Illinois FRIENDS, the Prairie Pride Coalition and ISU Pride tabled from noon to 3:30 on Tuesday at Milner Plaza. At every table, informational pamphlets and freebies were offered to students passing by.
One of the reasons surrounding the extra support was due to anti-trans activist Chloe Cole, who opposes gender-affirming care for minors following her own detransition, would be hosted by ISU’s College of Republicans in the evening. This event raised concerns among the student body on social media, prompting campus organizations to take action.
Co-President of ISU’s Queer Coalition Brie Byers said that the organizations, specifically the Queer Coalition, wanted to pass a message to all trans and queer students that their campus supports them and wants to see everyone thrive.
“We're out here throwing a resource fair, just showing [students] all the different resources that are available. Because honestly, it's kind of hard to see what resources are out there, so we're just putting it right out in front of them,” Byers said.
Byers gave her input regarding the guest speaker who would arrive later that evening.
“Just because transition wasn't for Chloe Cole doesn't mean that transition isn't a good choice for other people, and it doesn't mean that she gets to dictate whether or not other people should be able to,” Byers said.
“If you want to talk about irreversible harm, go to all the trans people out there who have been denied trans health care and had to go through the wrong puberty in adolescence,” Byers continued.
If a student is seeking a safe spot on campus with informative resources, Byers said the Multicultural Center at ISU is a good place to utilize.
The Prairie Pride Coalition worked with the Queer Coalition to attend the event and provide additional resources throughout Bloomington-Normal for students on campus. Prairie Pride Coalition President David Bentlin said the foot traffic was a great way to share their organization’s side of the story.
“[We are] presenting facts and resources, things that dispel the myths about gender identity and non-binaryism, so that's our purpose here today, and we're just glad to have the opportunity to meet with a lot of students, faculty and staff,” Bentlin said.
The Prairie Pride Coalition provided pamphlets containing a variety of safe spaces across BloNo, along with an LGBTQIA-friendly business and resource directory.
“We've got information on other organizations in the community that cater to specific populations within our community, like transgender social groups, transgender support groups, we have a number of other groups,” Bentlin said.
“Our purpose here today is to share all that information with the community here on campus … a lot of times [students] are new and they're not familiar with the area of Bloomington-Normal,” Bentlin continued.
Throughout the day, students in support of transgender visibility stood outside playing music and writing supportive messages with chalk on the campus’ Quad. Sophomore new media composition major Star Hall shared a reminder to all students on campus.
“Be yourself and support the people who want to be who they are, that’s a great thing,” Hall said.
