As a San Francisco native, I’ve personally been raised to embrace the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and queer community. In fact, where I live, those who are homophobic are considered pariahs.

The term “trans*” comes from modern day society. It is a non-exclusive, umbrella word for transsexual, transgender and a variety of other identities. Many people are unaware that there are trans* people at Syracuse University, according to Chase Catalano, director of the LGBT Resource Center.

Tomorrow is the SU LGBT Resource Center’s 12th Annual Rainbow Banquet, a celebration of graduating students and the past year of the LGBTQ community.

However, this past November, there was a series of trans* life signs on the grass between the Schine Student Center and the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications that were denigrated. I felt physically sick to my stomach. The signs were intended to educate the student body and faculty on trans* life, an identity that is still brutally discriminated against today.

Although months have passed, I have not directly seen that much action by the school in regard to eliminating LGBTQ-hate. I met with Catalano to discuss the destruction and what began as a simple interview ended as an hour-long conversation about LGBTQ life in general at Syracuse.

This past year, 238 trans* people were murdered worldwide, according to Transgender Europe’s Trans Murder Monitoring Project. Regardless of the intent behind the blatant destruction, the effect of physically strewn signs is silencing, Catalano said.

After this occurred, I noticed that although some peers are cool with LGBTQ people, I have met a lot of people who are only in favor of LGBTQ rights because it is “trendy,” not because they necessarily agree with “those kinds of people.” The number of students who are secretly bigots at this school is shocking.

Personally, I am also disappointed with the school’s treatment oftranssexuals and, more specifically, the people who didn’t do anything and left the signs scattered. In this day and age, it’s plain ridiculous not to be accepting.

Yes, being college educated means receiving a degree at the end of four years, but it also means expanding your personal horizons and learning about cultures and customs unlike your own.

I went to a grade school whose motto was “An Education for the Heart and Mind,” and although I thought it was cheesy while in attendance, it does hold a huge amount of truth. Being able to do a math problem but not being able to accept a co-worker or peer doesn’t make you educated; it makes you naive and stupid.

Are some people of the SU community really so ignorant as to legitimately commit hate crimes against a certain group of people? We look back on our history and are ashamed of how we treated various minorities in the past, yet nobody seems to learn. It’s 2014. It is time to realize that regardless of someone’s gender, sexuality, or skin color, we are all people.

I like to think that SU is an accepting place, but I also think that the word “acceptance” has a few different definitions. Obviously, people want to think of themselves as supportive, but what constitutes support? Advocating for “gay marriage” and “Prop 8” is just the tip of the iceberg.

Discuss LGBTQ rights with your friend. Talk about the injustices against the trans* community. Speak up if you are with someone who drops harmful slurs colloquially.

Even though it has been months since the incident, I feel like next year SU needs to be more proactive both in regard to addressing LGBTQ issues and advertising LGBTQ events. Events like Wednesday’s banquet or the Totally Fabulous Drag Show, which happened in February, deserve more publicity.

As the year winds down, I urge the Syracuse community to educate themselves. Attend an event where you might feel a little awkward or uncomfortable. I can promise you that 60 minutes in a place that’s “out of your comfort zone” is nothing compared to the lifetime of prejudice that members of the LGBTQ community face.

Meg Zukin is a freshman television, radio and film major. Her column appears every Wednesday in Pulp. Email her at mtzukin@syr.edu and follow her on Twitter at @margaretTZukin. 

Published on April 23, 2014 at 2:00 am