Two Events Address Transgender Issues on March 20

03/18/2014 

Transgender artist and educator Rebecca Kling will present the topic of gender and identity using storytelling, personal narrative, humor and movement when she visits SUNY Cortland on Thursday, March 20.

She will present a daytime workshop and an evening performance as part of the College’s Louis Larson Lecture and Performance Series. Both events are free and open to the public.

The Trans 101: Diversity and Respect Workshop will be held from 11:40 a.m. to 12:55 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 205. Kling will offer a working primer on transgender issues and experiences, including language and definitions, appropriate interactions and how to successfully integrate a transgender population into one’s community.

Kling will give an hour-long performance called “Uncovering the Mirrors” at 7 p.m. at the Interfaith Center. She will portray the journey from her first explorations of gender at six years old, naked and uncomfortable in her body, to the Bar Mitzvah that gendered her as a “man.” Topics move from the hormones coursing through her blood to a future as fragile as glass.

“‘Uncovering the Mirrors’ confronts the gender policing we all experience in our day-to-days lives, and asks how to live with regrets, push beyond mistakes, and look in the mirror each morning without flinching,” Kling said.

The Chicago-based presenter regularly speaks at colleges, universities and theatre festivals nationally. Kling’s website, rebeccakling.com, includes video clips from recent appearances and links to her blog and book, No Gender Left Behind, which is on sale at Amazon.com.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Faculty and Staff Committee created the Louis Larson Lecture and Performance Series to educate and support the campus and local community. The series includes guest speakers, panel talks and performances from professionals in the LGBTQ community to help foster and promote diversity and mutual respect.

Event sponsors include:

Athletics Department

Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC)

Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies (CGIS)

Advisement and Transition

Alumni Affairs Office

Career Services

Cortland LGBT Resource Center

Division of Student Affairs

Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)

Health Promotion

Interfaith Center

LGBTQ Faculty Staff Committee

Literacy Department

Memorial Library

Multicultural Life and Diversity Office

President’s Office

Psychology Department

Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department

School of Arts and Sciences – Dean’s Office

School of Education – Dean’s Office

School of Professional Studies - Dean’s Office

University Police Department

For more information, contact committee co-chairs Vicki Wilkins at 607-753-4972 or Kathryn Coffey at 607-753-2974.