On Thursday, Feb. 26th, HeadStrong, Pride, and Women’s and Gender Studies organizations will be working together to host a panel on Trans Identities and Mental Health.
The panel will be held in Chapman Lecture Hall at 7 pm that evening.
Tara Grigson is a sophomore and founder of the student organization HeadStrong, which advocates for Mental Health.
Grigson worked with undergraduate Kelsey Erwin, graduate student Gracie Weiderhaft and United Campus Ministries director Jennie Wachowski to organize the panel. Erwin will moderate.
“This topic is important to us because transgender people frequently face an incredible amount of injustice, and that is unacceptable.
Everyone deserves access to quality health care, including mental health care, regardless of their gender identity,” said Grigson.
Panelists will include TU junior and author Katie Hill, history professor Dr. Jan Wilson, student minister of Unitarian Universalists of Bartlesville Steven Williams, GSA Coordinator at Youth Services of Tulsa Vic Wiener and PhD student Jim Scholl.
Hill, who wrote “Rethinking Normal: a Memoir in Transition,” suggested that many students would benefit from attending this panel.
“Even though this subject may be difficult to comprehend and perhaps strange to people, the topics of gender, sexuality, gender-expressionism and, in conjunction, the topics of transgenderism and transgender people are real issues that are becoming more and more relevant in our society every day,” Hill said.
Dr. Wilson echoed this sentiment, saying “the purpose of this panel is to remove the silence and stigma surrounding transgender issues.”
“Students should attend this panel because it is going to be educational and interesting,” said Grigson.
“Our panelists are incredible, and I can’t imagine that anyone will leave the panel without learning something new. If you are an ally, you could consider coming and showing support for your trans peers. If you are not, you should come and learn something new!”
