There’s never been a better time to be queer at Temple

Transmasculine, bigender and transfeminine – welcome to a booming society

Times are changing at Temple.

Only last semester Temple’s Queer Student Union had just 50 members. Now there are over 150.

The group’s meetings were always interesting events. Now they are positively buzzing and fill a small auditorium.


A group of QSU members pose at a networking event created to celebrate and bring together allies and queer students during Welcome Week

Freshman history major Evron Hadly told The Tab that changing attitudes in the broader cultural context are behind the society’s growth in membership. Fellow members Jillian and Dani agreed.

QSU is growing in numbers and diversity. While queer student unions in the past were typically just for gay and bisexual youth, our QSU at Temple is inclusive of everyone with a queer identity.

Evron is transmasculine, Jillian is bigender and Dani is transfeminine. Students like them are bringing transgender and gender-fluid identities to the forefront of the queer movement as they help people realize that being queer does not always have to do with sexuality.

Evron and Jillian were both assigned female-at-birth and are exclusively attracted to men, but they do not identify as women. They have queer identities that relate to gender, not sexuality.

Jillian is also asexual. In their case, (they/them/their are Jillian’s pronouns), this means that even though Jillian is romantically attracted to men, sexual attraction does not necessarily follow the romantic attraction.

QSU member Evron Hadly believes changing attitudes are the reason for rise in membership

“Cisgender” refers to somebody who identifies with the gender that they were assigned at birth. Jillian believes that as people who are not cisgender and not straight are becoming more visible in the media, it is easier for students to accept their own identities.

Dani said: “[Society] is becoming more open to the idea that people have control over self-identity.”
The increase in QSU’s membership can also be attributed to an increase in allies and people who don’t label their queerness (or lack thereof).

​This sign is found on one of the many gender-neutral bathrooms on Temple’s campus, showing the growing presence of openly transgender and gender-variant students

One member who is a straight, cisgender woman and ally to the queer community spoke up about her own identity at the last meeting.

This young woman, named Imani, said she has always been expected to act “feminine” and be attracted to men. She even said that while she does not identify as bisexual, she also doesn’t know if she would experience the same attractions if she were raised differently.

Sophomore Joanna Freedman symbolizes another growing group of students: those without labels. Joanna stressed the importance of not feeling pressure to “come out.”

She said: “You don’t have to say anything. It’s good to just reach out.”

Sophomore Tourism and Hospitality major Yusuf Baxter defined QSU as a way to form friendships. On queer identity, he defines QSU as “a way for us to connect with that part of ourselves.”
He said: “It’s there but it’s worth learning more about.”

QSU members pose at Outfest, a Philadelphia celebration that kicks off National Coming Out Week

This semester, the executive board has been making a more collective effort than ever before to reach out to the general body and to increase inclusivity.

One freshman QSU member noted that the people in Temple’s QSU are truly passionate about queer outreach, advocacy, and education. She compared this to her high school’s gay-straight alliance, where people seemed more interested in using their involvement with the queer community as a way to build their resumes.

Quinn Heath, sophomore criminal justice major, described himself as “perplexed” by the growing membership of QSU. While his high-school’s GSA had about ten members, he noted that Temple’s QSU “fills a small auditorium.”

Based on these conversations with these members, one things remains very clear: QSU will only continue to grow at Temple University.

In the words of Yusuf Baxter, “Therein lies the beauty of QSU.”

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