Dr. Julia Sinclair-Palm is an Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of British Columbia and serves as Director of the Robert Quartermain Centre for SOGI-Inclusive Excellence in Education. I called Julia to ask them about the evolution of their activism both in and outside of public institutions over the last 20 years.
Andrew: You’ve done extensive research in trans spaces - with trans youth, parents of trans youth, college aged folks. Are there any through lines? What do people care most about?
Julia: The overall thing is to be treated with respect and dignity. That has branches from it - but the reality is that if you respect me as a human you’ll recognize that I need a bathroom, that I should be identified by the name I go by, and that my pronouns are just my pronouns. It shouldn’t be a question.
Andrew: Are folks more fired up about one thing over another based on age?
Julia: The sense I get is that [young] folks are attending to their day to day life. They are thinking about things that impact them Monday through Friday. A lot of trans youth are very much aware of the failures of education in schools and have already created systems to navigate them. So, yes, they’re irritated and feel rejected, but they’re also sort of “whatever?” Because it’s just the way it’s always been. They work to create their little pocket, their bubble and find their people. We carve out our own worlds within schools and home life that make feeling seen feel possible.
Andrew: Okay little bit of a non sequitur here. You’ve lived, studied, and worked in Canada for more than a decade now. I’m sure you noticed that as the political and social landscape of the US teeters more conservative, folks start talking about moving to Canada.
Julia: In the whole of Canada we’re seeing a delayed pendulum shift that mirrors that of the States. There's an increasing number of bills being passed in more conservative areas - just this week the Alberta Providence passed multiple bills targeting trans folks (like requiring children to have parental consent to change names at school, limiting membership to competitive sports teams to women assigned female at birth, and prohibiting doctors from treating youth under 16 with HRT and hormone blockers). But much like in the States, there are more progressive regions as well (British Columbia and Ontario for example).
Andrew: So knowing that and having been in the higher education political circus and deep in both research and teaching all of these years… have you ever wanted to get out of this space?
Julia: Sometimes I get burn-out feelings - because of all of the hoops that go into change. It’s tricky to know how deep to get into the relationships it takes to see any movement. It’s putting up with transphobia, bearing the brunt of that so students don't have to. Considering this, can I really prioritize this and do my job well? And do I have the energy to continue masking in the process of all of this negotiating? But ultimately, it’s about building relationships [even with people who are actively working against you].
You can learn more about Dr. Julia Sinclair-Palm at their bio page. Also, fun fact, Jules and I met when I was 18 and they were working at the Women’s Center at Cal Poly SLO - back when the room was painted black and red in true activist feminist fashion.
Commenti