VCU news

By Brian McNeill

Virginia Commonwealth University will host a public forum on how government policies — including immigration, military readiness, health care and criminal justice — are affecting transgender and non-binary individuals.

“The Future of Transgender and Non-Binary People” will be held on Wednesday, March 28, at 7 p.m. in the third-floor lecture hall of James Branch Cabell Library, 901 Park Ave.

“As a public policy student I’ve noticed that the academic literature is lacking on how policies affect transgender and non-binary people,” said organizer Peter Jenkins, a doctoral student in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at VCU. “Because of this void, I wanted to start a discussion on a variety of topics and how our approach to policy can be improved.”

The forum will feature these panelists:

Liz Coston, Ph.D., a faculty member in the Department of Sociology in the College of Humanities and Sciences and an activist-scholar whose research examines how the intersections of race, class and gender create differing experiences of marginalization and oppression for people who are LGBTQ.

Zakia K. McKensey, a certified HIV test counselor, prevention educator, advocate and founder of Nationz Foundation, a Richmond organization that provides education and information related to HIV prevention, cancer awareness, health and wellness, while inspiring the community to take responsibility for its overall health.

Austin Higgs, special assistant to the president at Richmond Memorial Health Foundation, is self-described as a black, biracial, genderqueer, gay visionary from below the poverty line, as well as a fully realized (though fluid) member of the trans community. Higgs is a champion of diversity and inclusion, and strives to leverage his multiple identities to make his community safer, stronger and more beautiful than he found it.

Shabab Ahmed Mirza, a research assistant for the LGBT Research and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress, where she works on homelessness and housing policy, data collection on sexual orientation and gender identity, and the impact of anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Prior to joining American Progress, she worked at the National Center for Transgender Equality and was a Young Leaders Institute fellow at South Asian Americans Leading Together. She is from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The panel will discuss, among other topics, the criminal justice system and how it interacts with people who are transgender or non-binary; the implications for trans and non-binary people related to immigration policies, including the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program; and the inclusion of trans people in the military, and whether current proposals affect readiness.

“Policy work can be utilized to ensure the well-being of our entire community in Virginia, but to attain that goal the conversation must include all of us,” Jenkins said. “So, while academic literature on these issues is one important arena that needs more work, the methods in which we make day-to-day decisions about policies also needs work. My goal is be a part in stimulating conversation about how we can use innovation in our decision-making processes to ensure equity and access for everyone in our region.”

The event will be free and open to the public, but registration is requested at: http://bit.ly/2lAmMPY. Sign language interpreters and light refreshments will be provided.

Jenkins said they are particularly encouraging elected officials, local government officials, students, and community members to attend.

“We … want decision-makers thinking about these topics as they approach their daily work,” Jenkins said. “If we can get someone in an emergency management office, police department, [or a] health policy organization to consider how a proposed decision affects transgender and non-binary people, we have succeeded.”

Looking ahead, organizers said they hope the forum is the first step in a process toward more inclusive public policy.

“Our event organizers are working with groups of decision-makers to have follow-up meetings between representatives of both their industry and the trans community so that we can engage in more personalized and evidence-based discussions in those specific areas,” Jenkins said. “We can really make a change in Richmond and the entire state, [but] it all starts with a discussion and I’m delighted that our event will be a part of that conversation.”

The forum’s sponsors include the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs; the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies and the Department of Political Science in the College of Humanities and Sciences; the Wellness Resource Center; VCU Libraries; the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs; the Division for Inclusive Excellence; Equity and Access Services; the Office of Government Relations for VCU and the VCU Health System; Queer Action; and the Public Administration Student Association.