March 31 was Transgender Day of Visiblity, a day quite a few transgender students at Southern Utah University can celebrate. One of those students is Peter Humphery.
Humphery is a nutrition student here at SUU and is a transgender man. When he was a teenager, he came to the conclusion that he was trans.
“At some point when I was fourteen… I very specifically remember looking in the mirror and I had the thought that I don’t wanna be a trans boy, I want to be a real boy, which is problematic, but I thought that,” Humphery said about how he came out to himself.
March 31 was declared Transgender Day of Visiblity by President Joe Biden in an official proclamation early in 2021. It was a good gesture, but Humphery would like to see it be more of a day of action on the part of cisgender people.
“I’m glad [Transgender Day of Visiblity] exists,” Humphery said, “[But] it doesn’t amount to as much as I want it to.”
Humphrey has generally had a good time at SUU. According to him, the faculty has been excellent, accepting and understanding. The SUU Housing Department was also supportive and accommodating, and he ended up living with men in the second semester of last year.
“This year has been a bit hard because there are a few people who have been resistant to using correct pronouns,” Humphery said.
By using the proper pronouns and conjugating they/them pronouns correctly, cisgender people can be more inclusive of transgender and nonbinary people.
“[Be] better at using people’s pronouns,” Humphery said. “When people are very apologetic, it makes us uncomfortable.”
Humphrey said that when someone makes a mistake with pronouns, they should just correct themselves and move on.
For more information and resources for LGBTQ students at SUU, visit the SUU Pride Alliance site.
Article by Rylie Brewster
ryliebrewster@suumail.net
Photo courtesy of Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
