GENEVIEVE PFISTER, Staff Writer—

Zac Boyer, Stonewall Columbus’s Director of Programs and Marketing, had the opportunity to talk with students about trans and nonbinary identities at Outlook’s  Dinner and Dialogue event on November 10. 

Boyer opened the presentation by introducing themselves and the mission and vision of Stonewall Columbus which is to “increase visibility, inclusion, and connection for the LGBTQ+ community.” 

Stonewall’s programs, some of which are hybrid, include the Sober Queer Writing Group; Women’s Out Networks, which connect women of all identities who have come out with those in the process of coming out; Stonewall Cares, which distributes vouchers; and Lavender Listings, a website where people can find queer-affirming products and businesses. Additionally, they all have programs to honor queer veterans, provide resources for families of trans people, and discuss topics such as fatphobia and the experiences of Black queer individuals. Stonewall Columbus also hosted the largest pride festival in the Midwest, with 17,000 people at their last march, and recently hired two trans individuals to lead programs for Stonewall, one of the first times this has happened in Central Ohio.

The rest of the presentation focused on relevant terminology, including the terms cisgender, transgender, nonbinary, sex assigned at birth, intersex, gender identity, and gender expression, as well as how to be respectful of individuals’ orientations and identities. One key element of the event was an overview of nine different sets of pronouns individuals may use and their usage. 

“We need to know how to talk with people, and pronouns are the first step,” Boyer said, stressing the importance of being sensitive to the terms and language individuals prefer.

They also distinguished between needing to know and wanting to know something about someone’s gender or body. Medical professionals often need to know what body parts a person has in order to treat them. Others may want to know something about a person, but do not need to. Boyer encouraged individuals when asking a queer-identifying person a question to consider whether they (the individual asking) needs to know the information, whether they would ask a straight/cis person the question, and if they would feel comfortable being asked the same question. “The most important part,” Boyer explained, “is to respectfully use the words folks use to describe themselves without questioning it.”

Boyer said when mistakes happen and you accidentally misidentify someone, apologize sincerely and only once, then learn and move on. Over-apologizing or obsessing over the incident centers your feelings, not those of the trans or nonbinary person you are talking to.

At the end of the presentation, Boyer also shared a number of other queer organizations in the area, including Kaleidoscope Youth Center, Black, Out, & Proud, Black Queer and Intersectional Collective, Black Trans Men of Ohio, Equitas Health, and OCTOPUS LLC.