The idea that gender is not biologically decided like physical sex, but is decided upon by the person, is what sophomore Molly Ferris wanted audience members to think about on Monday. 

Ferris, a sophomore psychology major, talked to audience members about issues that are faced by transgender people during her presentation “T-Time with Molly,” a Pride Week event. 

“Transgender is an umbrella term that encompasses many other terms,” Ferris said. “It encompasses any individual that crosses their traditional gender roles.”

Ferris started by passing out index cards and asked audience members to write down the pronoun that they identify with, such as he, she, it or they. 

There are also gender-neutral pronouns like hir, ze, zei, they or Mx. for Mr. and Mrs.

“I want people to know a little bit more about transgender so they know to ask the right questions and be inclusive and maybe be a trans ally,” Ferris said. “I tried to throw out a lot of open-ended questions, because I want people to think.”

Becca Levine, a junior English major, said she learned a lot that would benefit her when she became a teacher.

“The part about being inclusive was helpful,” Levine said. “Also the part about the pronouns was helpful because I don’t want to offend anyone if they identify as transgender in my classroom.”

Ferris also had audience members sit as a stereotypical male or female to show the common idea of how people restricted based on their genders. 

Ferris also said the exercise showed how geographic location changes how people are allowed to act especially when it has to do with gender. 

“How many female-identifiers are wearing pants? Yeah, you all are cross dressing in a lot of countries,” Ferris said. “Even in some places you are transcending boundaries in certain countries and it depends on where you are.”

Ferris said the transgender community includes those who dresses as another sex, surgically changes sexes or is born a different sex than now. 

Ferris also told about the different challenges including bathroom use, living arrangements, discrimination and mental issues while identifying with a certain gender.

“It’s like someone who identifies as a man and gets his period is like ‘I’m a man why do I have my period,’” Ferris said. “Or someone who identifies as a woman ‘I’m a woman, why don’t I have my period?’”

Abby Wilburn, a sophomore sociology major and the action director for EIU Pride, said she thought the presentation went really well. 

“I think it opened a lot of people’s eyes to issues they didn’t know existed in the transgender community,” Wilburn said.

Ferris also shared some of the laws in Illinois. 

Illinois laws states that the transgender community is safe from discrimination, allows for name changes, but restricts that transgenders can only get married if the documentation has two different sexes.

Stephanie Gribbin, a junior English major, said she found the laws interesting. 

“I think it was a good overview of transgender issues, especially for those who don’t know about them,” Gribbin said. “I thought the laws in Illinois were interesting, because it really relevant for any transgender students on campus.” 

Wilburn said she thought the presentation will help to open up peoples’ hearts.

“I think it helps people be more aware and become more sensitive to other peoples’ needs,” Wilburn said. 

Ferris said she thinks Eastern students should be more aware of social issues that affect a variety of people.

“I really just want the audience to take away their own thoughts and maybe look into things and think about what gender is and what it means,” Ferris said. 

Ferris said she hopes people learned from the presentation.

 “You are suppose to learn something new every day, so someone can come out, step outside their comfort zone and submerge in a culture they are not necessarily use to,” Ferris said. “I think that is learn and it’s just a beautiful thing. We should all step outside our box.”

 Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.