"When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." Audre Lorde
Trans* Lives @ UNH started as an idea dreamed up by Joëlle Ruby Ryan in 2015. They were concerned that they had seen many transgender people come through UNH in their many years at the institution, and their stories were not being recorded. Too often, the stories of transgender people are lost, marginalized or actively ignored in a transphobic society. This ongoing project aims to collect the stories of past and current trans*-identified undergraduate students, graduate students, staff and faculty. We also aim to collect stories of transgender alums. These stories will be displayed on campus, placed online in a blog, collected in zines and ultimately archived in Dimond Library. Here we present the first 5 stories but there are many more to come! Despite impressive political strides in the past 5-10 years, it continues to be very difficult to be transgender in our society. That our subjects are willing to make themselves visible in the ongoing climate of fear and ignorance is a testament to their integrity, courage and desire to educate people in the community. Like Lorde, they are truly “using [their] strength in the service of [their] vision” and the world will be a better place because of it. If you would like to share your story or help with this project, please contact [email protected]. Thank you and happy reading!