On Friday, March 31, Lawrence welcomed local transgender fine artists to share their work in Wriston to celebrate the annual Transgender Day of Visibility. The event was organized by Affinity Group Coordinator Helen Boyd Kramer and hosted by Emcee Rachel Crowl.
Kramer, who is Crowl’s wife, said that this year, hosting an event to recognize transgender people at Lawrence and beyond was especially important, citing the anti-trans bills being passed around the country.
“Trans Day of Visibility is important, especially in the context of all the anti-trans legislation happening in the U.S. right now,” Kramer said. She added there are “435 bills across 44 states – and [there’s] increased suspicion and hate directed at trans people, who, as my wife put it, ‘are really just trying to go about their day.’”
Though Kramer always tries to host an event to commemorate Trans Day of Visibility, she said that this year was one of the bigger celebrations she has put on. She reported success in being able to bring the performers to Lawrence.
The setlist for the celebration began with a song by musician Taizan Alford, who drew on Buddhist elements for his composition. Following Alford was a poetry reading of famous transgender authors by District 2 Appleton Alderperson Vered Meltzer ‘04, the only openly transgender elected official in the state of Wisconsin. After Meltzer was Victor MacArthur, who performed three original acoustic songs. Ivy Garrett was next, also performing two acoustic songs to celebrate the six-year anniversary of her transition. To close, two additional songs were sung by multi-instrumentalist Nicholas Raymond, featuring one of his friends on guitar.
After the scheduled performance, Crowl opened the mic to those in the audience who wished to share their own creations or shout out transgender individuals who have impacted their lives. Members of a trans Lawrence musical group present at the event shared a parodied version of “If I Was A Rich Man” from “Fiddler on the Roof,” drawing on transgender culture and humor. Representatives from different local LGBTQ+ organizations informed the audience of upcoming events. To close, a 14-year-old from Kaleidescope Academy shared their experience as a young gender-nonconforming person living in the Appleton area.
First-year Iris Pierce commented that the celebration was a pleasant change of pace from the discourse surrounding the transgender community in the United States recently. She considered the event a safe space where transgender individuals could celebrate without regard to what others may believe about them. First-year Evan Portzline said she found generational solidarity in the event, as many of the performers and audience members were older than her. She said that often, transgender individuals of different generations are only able to access each other in online forums, and that seeing an intergenerational celebration in the real world was powerful.
LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Diverse & Resilient Youth and Young Adult Advocate Passion Freeman ‘21 pointed out that they found the supportive atmosphere at the event the most rewarding.
“As a genderqueer person, this day is important to me because I get to see queer people be out, loud, proud and dope,” Freeman said. “I love being surrounded by that kind of self-love.”
Despite not having a personal connection to the university, Garrett and MacArthur praised the event for its community-oriented nature.
“With everything that’s been going on lately, it’s been so much fun to just have a day of joy and togetherness,” MacArthur said.
Raymond mentioned he was thankful to have been able to celebrate with the Lawrence community and experience different ways transgender attendees celebrated their identities.
Kramer is already looking ahead to next Trans Day of Visibility, where she plans to bring more transgender Lawrence alumni back to share their talents. She already has connected with one alumna returning for next year’s Trans Day of Visibility celebration. In addition, she was inspired by the reception of the event to begin considering a Lawrence musical event featuring transgender artists separate from the holiday.
“I’m excited that I’ll be bringing Joanna Ransdell…next year,” Kramer said. “Honestly, [the celebration] made me think that having some kind of all trans music festival or open mic would be really cool, so stay tuned!”