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Eugene's Trans Community Strives For Greater Visibility And Voice

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/
Unsplash

It’s Pride month, with many LGBTQ people hoping for more acceptance and support.  That includes Eugene’s transgender community. 

It’s a mixed bag, nationally: many states have anti-transgender bills in areas ranging from medical care to school sports. But President Biden ended a Trump-era restriction on transgender service personnel, while his Assistant Secretary of Health is openly transgender.

Oblio Stroyman of Eugene non-profit, Transponder, said the local “mood” mirrors the national one.

“We do find folks here who are outright hostile, then we find folks who are super allies bending over backwards to make trans-rights in the forefront of the conversation.

"I can’t say that trans rights are at the forefront for the City of Eugene. I don’t find it to be hostile per se, I just don’t find that we’re considered in the ways that we keep encouraging the city to consider transgender people.” 

Stroyman says involving more transgender voices can improve policy across Eugene.

Copyright 2021, KLCC. 

Brian Bull is a contributing freelance reporter with the KLCC News department, who first began working with the station in 2016. He's a senior reporter with the Native American media organization Buffalo's Fire, and was recently a journalism professor at the University of Oregon.

In his nearly 30 years working as a public media journalist, Bull has worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
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