Luna Ramos L&S Social Sciences
Reimagining Inclusion: Embracing Trans Youth of Color in the Classroom
Instead of focusing on the interpersonal instances of transphobia, this project is curious about what circumstances allow for cultural shifts than transform the school experiences of transgender youth of color. By conducting interviews with transgender youth of color from the San Francisco Bay Area, this project is centered on a group that is often excluded and made invisible in academic work. Transgender youth and their allies are continually antagonized, even aside from quotidian bullying, increased risk for homelessness, and suicide. Legal protections do not translate to material safety for Trans youth, especially Trans youth of color, who are both marginalized in society and within the queer community. This project asks: How are transgender youth of color coming into their identities, and how have some been able to thrive? What can be learned directly from them, and how can this knowledge be translated to non-punitive changes in school culture and policy? Despite violence, Trans youth of color insist on something else. Another world is possible, and this project is invested in reaching and attaining that goal.
Message To Sponsor
To the Gates Foundation, I am grateful for your role in making this opportunity possible, trans-led and trans-centered research is of great importance. This work is essential, and your generosity is making it possible.