It was a year ago that I "came out" to the Fanshawe community in this very forum as a transwoman — not completely, but rather as a "closeted" male to female instructor. A very select few people within the college and university communities know my face and real name of course, and this has serious implications for everyone. Let me explain.

Within our community we see many, many diverse groups of people: male, female, ethnic, religious, full-time, parttime, second career, etc. We also see, and more importantly feel, not only separation of these groups, but equally, if not more importantly, ones between administration, faculty, support staff and the student population. These distinctions are supposed to provide order to our society, but the real question of this wisdom never seems to be asked: "How do we engage the college community as a diverse community?"

We are there for a purpose, to provide an exchange of information so that our students become the product of our institution, and upon graduation, move into the workforce as productive parts of our society at large. Still, we often miss the boat when it comes to life lessons because of these separate distinctions within the Fanshawe community. As instructors, we should be engaging our students in meaningful dialogue about diversity. Sometimes this means putting our own prejudices on trial, and we all have them.

As a transgendered woman, this kind of exposure could have catastrophic consequences on my effectiveness as an instructor. As I stated earlier, I see my role as one of guiding my students toward full adulthood just as importantly as my dissemination of information and practical exercise within the disciplines of my teaching.

However, to attend class dressed in my appropriate gender would quickly lose my class. My abilities as a teacher wouldn't change, my knowledge of my field hasn't changed, but suddenly, the ability of establishing relationships with my students would. Obviously, my effectiveness would be impacted and equally, the gains my students could have experienced would diminish. Ultimately, my position within the faculty would in all likelihood disappear. I would have lost my income, and worse, my connection with young people doing what I love most: teaching.

Campus life is about life learning as much as it is about job training. Still, we continually fall short of the mark due to these separations we make, albeit subconsciously. These are valuable opportunities lost. We make these distinctions based upon our own prejudices and fear, our own place within the "pecking order" and our own perception of self-importance.

A good friend from India once commented to me that on our deathbed when we are stripped of all our trappings, the only thing left is who we truly are. Our accomplishments are of no consequence, but what we did with our life and how we impacted those around us are now the true measure of our lives. They are how we will be remembered. Very wise words.

My interest in gender is obvious. My activities outside of the college can be seen as those of an activist, not in a militant sense, but in the role of bridge-building between various communities. I educate others, I work to enlist medical and social agencies assistance. I work with researchers, politicians and doctors to name a few. I am a core founding member of a transgender group within London. We as a group count some highly educated and respected people within our membership. We touch upon many of the structures within our society. We work very hard to build bridges of understanding, tolerance and support. It is very difficult for many people to comprehend something as foreign as breaking the binary gender model, yet this is our goal; not for ourselves but for the community at large.

The binary gender model is founded in the accepted principle that people are male or female. Many things in our lives are based on binary decisions of right or wrong, good or bad, etc., yet the grey areas that always exist are rarely brought forth. To the transgender person, this grey area is normal since we see gender as fluid, just as we see sexual orientation as being both fluid and separate. To the heterosexual and cisgender community, often both of these concepts are foreign. We in the LGBT community also know of the theorized and accepted causalities. The larger population couldn't care less since they are unaffected in their own lives. It is an easy trap that we can fall into. Not questioning or understanding is a comfort zone because it is binary in nature.

Can we at Fanshawe do better? Absolutely. Our Positive Space program has made few gains across the college, yet it is one of the best in the province if not the country. Few of our students know of it just as our administrators do not promote it. Again, this is because it is beyond comfort zones of people. It asks them to understand and empathize. The irony to this of course is the college's diversity policies that enforce the "rules." This conundrum is not lost on many and only leads us to ask what benefit the policies provide if the educational, informational and support systems are not in place or, worse, are ignored.

It is not beyond comprehension the reasons that the transgender community feels threatened within our institution. We are here and will continue to be, yet our visibility remains in the closet. Why? We in the larger community have failed our college community individually as well as in the broader scope. Our roles are so defined that we cannot easily step outside of them either as students, staff, faculty or administrators. Our failures become the failures of our society as we perpetuate the status quo.

This writer longs for a return to liberal education where life is learned as much as disciplines. The real question is; will it happen and who will have the fortitude to break down that wall?

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.