LGBTQ+ Voices / Volume 1 w/ Lyn Y. '25

Questions with Lyn Y.

May 23, 2022 [3:05 PM] Interview Transcript

Q: If applicable, how was your experience coming out? Is there anything non-LGBTQ+ people could have done to make your coming-out experience more comfortable?

A: Although I am technically closeted since I haven't told a few of my peers about my sexuality or gender identity. However, for the few people that do know, I wished people could be more sincere and genuine by not making jokes while I come out. Personally, I feel as if that's not the best way to react because it confuses me on whether they accept me for who I am or they think I'm not being genuine. Everyone is different though, so not everyone would feel the same as me!

Q: What do you find is the difference between coming to terms with your sexuality vs. your gender identity?

A: Through my experiences, I felt as if more people accepted me for my sexuality compared to my gender identity. There's a lot of stigmatization of figuring out gender identity and a lot of people are still learning simple things such as how appearance does not equal gender. I realized how significant my appearance was to people. They would often just assume my sexuality or gender identity just through my appearance which had a negative impact on me. People accepted me as not being straight but they've also shown their disagreement with my gender identity because of my appearance, this shows how my gender identity was more difficult to understand.

Q: How does being queer impact your perspective and/or perception of feminism?

A: How being queer impacted my perspective on feminism is that feminism should consider all aspects of the gender spectrum. I think what problems a lot of people undermine is how women who are transgender are still often excluded from these protests on women's rights. More people should learn how to make feminism more trans-inclusive, it would help a lot of women in the trans community to feel more accepted which is very important to me.

Q: Does TAS do a sufficient job including LGBTQ+ students and faculty? If not, what can they improve on?

A: I appreciate that TAS does not mind the presence of LGBTQ+ students or faculty in their school community. However, I wish they could improve teaching students on being more respectful toward the LGBTQ+ community by teaching them about this at a younger age. A lot of their education about this topic is not very delivered well to students and many of the teachers seem uninterested in teaching this topic at times which really bothers me at times.

Q: How does religion play a role in your life?

A: A lot of people talk about how their religion would affect their views on sexuality and gender identities, however, this shouldn't be the case at all. Religion shouldn't affect views on other people, because everyone should respect different opinions no matter how different they could be from your own beliefs. I see a lot of people who complain about LGBTQ+ representation in the media and how it would affect their children or how it's very contradictory to their religion specifically. It's important for everyone to know that not everyone is part of the same religion and no one should enforce their religion on others.