Tuesday July 20, 2021
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TRANSGENDER Continued from page 17
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think just him being there gave it a little bit of a vibe,” said Scott. “And there were some guys that were fully out. God bless them. They had courage.” Scott remembers social events for LGBTQ+ students at Terrace, too. “They had some queer mixers … I do remember there was a queer party of some kind at Terrace and I went and there were like five people there … And I was like, oh, man, I so do not fit in,” Scott told the ‘Prince,’ “That was my experience of ‘out’ life at Princeton.” Navigating the Intersections of Multiple Identities Dr. Joi Weaver ’97 didn’t begin to question their gender identity or sexuality during their time at Princeton. “My biggest identity and the challenges I met at Princeton were being Black, basically,” said Weaver. “I was a pre-med student, and so I had a good number of Black pre-med friends and we really supported each other as minorities, and the microaggressions we faced, the racial issues that we faced.” Weaver reflects that this may have overshadowed questions of sexuality or gender identity. “When you go to places that are predominantly white you always feel a little different,” Weaver said. “I think I’ve had a whole life of that, so I always thought that that was the difference. So maybe that impaired me from digging deeper to understand that there were some other differences as well.” Monet also found that intersections between her identities impacted her experience at Princeton and as a trans person, namely being Latina and the daughter of an undocumented immigrant. “To the extent to which I was used to being marginalized, it helped me. A lot of white trans women are shocked at suddenly becoming marginalized,” said Monet. “It helped me to be an activist. I was certainly an activist on campus,” she continued. Being blind shaped Leslie’s experience coming to terms with her identity, as she relied on other
people’s support to transition and to find other LGBTQ+ people. Instead of easing into a transition, she had to begin her journey by coming out. “I couldn’t do it as a single person looking and exploring. I needed the community just to find out about the community,” said Leslie in her interview from the archive. At the same time, being blind encouraged her to enter activism, because she had to connect personally with activists and leaders of organizations to get information. “I wound up, just out of necessity, becoming an organizer,” she explained. Taking on Activism as Alumni Leslie and Monet engaged in activism in their time at Princeton, while others didn’t begin their advocacy efforts until after graduation — but all interviewees now dedicate themselves to various LGBTQ+ issues and communities across the country. Leslie first focused on bisexual issues and later took on trans activism as well. In her interview from the archive, she recalled one particularly memorable moment from the early days of her activist career in ’87, days after the March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights. “There was a civil disobedience action at the Supreme Court. And I was on the steps of the Supreme Court singing ‘We Shall Overcome’ and all kinds of other protest things reminiscent of the 1960s.” Leslie was arrested there for not vacating the steps and spent several hours on a paddywagon along with Michael Hardwick, the plaintiff in the landmark Bowers v. Hardwick Supreme Court case which upheld states’ rights to enforce sodomy laws. White has served on the Board of Directors for the Human Rights Campaign and as executive director of the Blue Ridge Pride Center, as well as traveling as a speaker and helping organize pride marches in North Carolina. “My story was a good one. My family didn’t abandon me, and I thought they might; my work didn’t fire me, and I thought they might. I wanted to retire and pay it forward by becoming an activist,” White explained. “So I moved to the south, because we need more trans voices in the south.” Monet’s activism is focused primarily on the digital sphere, where she uses her YouTube channel to ed-
ucate people about trans issues and experiences. Some of her videos have millions of views. Monet is proud of her channel’s impact. There, she is able to share resources with many people who are beginning to question their gender identities and says she has helped cisgender people understand trans issues better. “I have literally talked people off of train tracks,” she said. “I know I have saved people’s lives, encouraged people to come out.” Lamar also helps trans people at the beginning of their journeys through the organization she helps run, Cross Dressers International. “It’s our main purpose to take beginners by the hand ... give them the feeling that [they’re] not alone,” Lamar explained. Renegotiating Relationships with Princeton While spending years or decades discovering their identities, transitioning, and even engaging in activist work, many interviewees have had ongoing interactions with the University. They have watched the school change, and for many, their relationships with it have changed too, and even improved. Others are unable to mend the negative associations they have with the institution or reconcile their transitions with memories of their time as undergraduates. Lamar decided not to come out to former classmates, and like many transgender people her age, prefers living a double life, presenting as male to her family and community. “Like a lot of people my age — I went to Princeton in the ’60s — I live two lives. I got married, I have a daughter, I have grandchildren, as male me. And I’m also Nancy. I’m both,” she said. “I went back to reunions as male me, and I went back with my wife, so it was just the standard reunions … The reunion is an attempt to recapture the years you were there, when in my case neither I nor anybody else there presented as LGBT,” Lamar continued. Although Scott publicly transitioned, it had little impact on his experience at reunions. Scott felt “visibly queer” by the time he attended his fifth reunion, which he said seemed to surprise or put off
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DESIGN: THANYA BEGUM / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
COURTESY OF SUBJECTS
From left (top): Andrea Razi-Thomas ’96 with her family, Tina Madison White ’82 with Sally Frank ’80, and Dr. Joi Weaver ’97. From left (bottom): Cameron Scott ’93, Melody Maia Monet ’93, and Nancy Lamar. classmates, although no one made direct comments. “I went to my 25th and no one knew that I transitioned,” said Scott. Though they could have learned from social media, he didn’t actively explain or come out to people. “It just wasn’t really the most important thing,” he said. All of those interviewed appreciated the changes they have seen taking place in the University. Leslie enjoyed visiting the LGBT center at reunions. “There wasn’t an LGBT office — activities office, support services, anything of that sort. But now it was there, and it was so good to get that feeling, to have that support from the Princeton community now,” recounted Leslie in her archived interview. White not only returned for reunions, but also spoke at and helped run the She Roars conference. After pushing past her nerves, White had a very positive experience reintroducing herself to her classmates as Tina. “Everyone was very kind,” she said. “I suddenly felt, when I visit Princeton now, and I walk the campus, I feel like I’m really walking on my campus, and I had always felt like a foreigner on my own campus because I hadn’t attended Princeton as me.” White also loved being a part of She Roars — “everyone was very welcoming.” “The coolest thing for me was to be there in this sea of women and to
feel connected, because I had never felt that,” she said. “I just felt like I was home. I’d never had that before and it was just so wonderful.” Monet also found she was able to add happy memories to her connection with Princeton — from working for the Alumni Council and helping run TigerNet, where she launched a discussion board for LGBT alumni, to speaking at the tenth anniversary of the campus’ LGBT Center and reintroducing herself to classmates at her 25th Reunion, to even getting married in the Chapel and having her reception at Prospect House. “You can reclaim that space,” Monet explained. “If you ever look back at Princeton’s traditions and how they’ve changed over time, they don’t actually date back that far, most of them. It wasn’t long ago that the institution didn’t even allow women.” “I was in the closet for four years. There weren’t a lot of us around. But hopefully, the next generation of students won’t be able to say that, and that’s a beautiful thing,” she said. “We’ve been around forever, but it’s taken us a while to get our moment in the sun.” Editor’s Note: Interested readers can hear from these individuals, and from dozens of other LGBTQ+ alumni, in the Oral History Archive.
