Against the grey concrete front of the Aula, True U’s pink closet was a striking, colourful bright spot. Inside the closet – “while I came out years ago” – is Emmelie (29, Civil Engineering) who came here after reading about the True U action on Instagram drawing attention to the visibility of trans people. Her nails bear the trans colours: light blue, light pink and white.
The reason for True U’s action is International Transgender Day for Visibility, that fell on Good Friday this year. For her, it is an important day, says Emmelie. “Over the last few years I have seen increasing pressure on us transgender people. I see more and more hate in society.”
The day first came about in 2009 on the initiative of Rachel Crandall, a transgender activist, and is meant to ‘strengthen and recognise’. It is a moment in time for positive representation. Emmelie believes that it can also serve to raise awareness among cisgender people. “We want to show that we too are allowed to be here. In all our diversity. Not every trans person is the same.”
Most suppressed group
Julien van Campen is the Chair of True U, the network for LHBTQI+ staff members at TU Delft. Wearing a bright purple sweater, he explains why the Board wants to draw attention to International Transgender Day for Visibility. “Trans people are the most suppressed group in the LHBTQI+ community. At TU Delft too, they are not always safe. People come to us with truly horrible stories.”
Pointing to the pink closet, he cites an example of an employee who did not want the closet with the light blue and light pink trans colours in the logo to be temporarily placed in the faculty where he works. “He believed that it would encourage paedophilia. This is nonsense of course, but it shows what kind of scaremongering stories are circulating.”
The path to a safe LHBTQI+ environment should not only be paved by they themselves, says Van Campen, but by cisgenders too. This does not need to be complicated. “I have a rainbow sticker on my notebook and on my room door,” says Van Campen. “This shows that it is a safe place to share your story. Everyone may do so.”
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