OCC Hosts Transgender Forum

Oakland Community College is hosting a Transgender Forum from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Friday, October 11 at the Smith Theater, 27055 Orchard Lake Road in Farmington Hills.

The event will include a clip of the documentary “Trans,” followed by a panel of community members who identify as transgender or are a transgender ally.
Panelists Arlene Kish, Rachel Crandall, Colt Stacer, Mykell Price and Judith Kovach will discuss issues facing the transgender community, including relationships, dating, transitioning at school and work, discrimination in various institutions of society, and how to be an ally. They will also discuss implications for changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which last year eliminated the word disorder to describe transgender individuals.

“The goal of this event is to make OCC and the local community more educated on the matter so we can be more inclusive,” says Michelle Fether-Samtouni, M.A., chair of the college’s Committee for Diversity and Inclusion, one of the event’s sponsors. 

Fether-Samtouni is a member of the sociology faculty at the Auburn Hills campus and faculty advisor to Q-FLAG, the student group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersex (LGBTQQI) community and straight allies.

The event is sponsored by the Committee for Diversity and Inclusion and Students, Staff, Administrators & Faculty for Equality (S.A.F.E.) on Campus.

The Professional Development and Training Center (PDTC) is offering 1 SDU for attendance. For more information, email Michelle Fether-Samtouni at mdsamtou@oaklandcc.edu.

Resources:

Trans, the documentary:

http://www.transthemovie.com/
 

OCC transgender forum details:

https://www.oaklandcc.edu/Posters/TrangenderForum.pdf

Additional statistics, definitions and resources can be found on the GLAAD website. GLAAD is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization.