Author: acrandell

I’m Valerie McLaurin (she/her). I was born and raised in the Carolinas and have always wrestled with the expectations of Southern femininity and masculinity. I feel extremely thankful to have participated in this project as someone who thinks deeply about two of the major themes woven throughout: what it means to be a Southerner, and the complexities of gender. The generous honesty of many of those consulted with and interviewed allowed me to interrogate my own role as a member and ally of the LGBTQ+ community. I hope that this publication will allow others to do the same. 

I received my BA in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and my MA in Liberal Studies with a concentration in History from Coastal Carolina University. I will pursue a PhD in History with a certificate in Women’s Studies at the University of Georgia beginning in Fall 2019. 

I worked as a Graduate Assistant on this project. My contributions included interviewing, transcribing, researching, editing, and organizing workshops. The collaborative exercise of documenting the experiences of trans individuals in the Southern US resulted in many discussions of the nature of objectivity, archival work, allyship, and gender that will forever shape my understanding of individuality and communities. Stories like these are crucial for us to have a better understanding of ourselves, our local history, and our role in the larger world. 

My name is Joshua Parsons; my pronouns are (he/him/his). I am a senior English major form Hartville, Ohio. I have many reasons as to why I wanted to be a part of this project, the main reason being that I care about humanity as a whole. This project is a step in the right direction toward everyone seeing each other as equals. This project means so much to everyone who has put time into it from the writers, to the individuals that were interviewed. I also hold a special place in my heart for the trans community for deciding to live their lives the way they want to live them. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I think it is important to look out for each other and to support each other in our goal of rights and equality. The people in these interviews have shared their stories in order to help the population become more informed on trans individuals and those around them. Their stories are gifts, and I hope the person reading this sees them as such. My hope is that this project can help open the minds of individuals of the surrounding area to see that there are trans people in the south, and they have every right to be here and be heard as you do. 

I really highlighted the existence of the trans individuals and how they are related to my life. Also my hopes for the projects. 

My name is Tori McCray and I am a twenty year old from Jackson, Mississippi. I am a double Philosophy and English major and a creative writer with a focus in fantasy fiction. My pronouns are she/her. 

One of the main reasons why I wanted to do this project was because of Coastal Carolina’s location in the South. Because I grew up in the South I knew and understood how cruel and disrespectful Southerners could be towards those who identify with the LGBTQ community. My hopes for this project was to spark conversations about gender and sex and why we as a culture and society look down upon those who cannot fit into a box. I also hope that this project can reach those who are in middle school, high school, or even elementary that feel as if they are different than what people tell them they are. I hope this project gives them hope and courage for their own transition. 

I’m Britta Alford—an English major/Journalism minor from Conway, South Carolina. I am a nonbinary, pansexual writer, poet, painter, designer, social activist, and overall balancing-act creative: A survivor; a fighter. My pronouns are they/them.

I started this project identifying by the name on my birth certificate… A name that tastes like tinfoil in my mouth, and brings flashbacks of isolation, backhanded lullabies, and poisonous fingers reaching into my throat—ripping out my tongue altogether; silencing me. A name I wish wasn’t so hard to bury.

When I was invited to join the Athenaeum Press in the beginning stages of the process, I was deep in my own questioning of the confines of gender, and deconstructing my own. Somewhere between sharing intimate moments of similar experiences during the interview process of friends and colleagues, and seeing through the archiving work this similar echo of individuality at the forefront—no matter what specifics follow—I was able to morph into a more true Me, with the support of the gender-bending community. I am also in a transition not unlike the ones the people in this book have gone through, and still are going through on a daily basis. It’s a slow process to become the person I’ve always wanted to see looking back in the mirror. It’s a journey; one that I know I will be able to live through, and work my own way around. We all constantly shift ourselves and mold our identities, our minds, and sometimes our bodies, to be more akin to the image of ourselves we want to see—and fit our outside images to the ideas we hold within us. We are all on a journey to find ourselves. Sometimes that means deconstructing everything you once firmly believed you were, and starting again in the dark.

Through these pages, I hope you—dear reader—will open your heart to the same kind of conversation that I have welcomed into mine. I hope the stories of resilience inspire you to live your best, most honest life, and not let the oppressive voices around you keep you in the shade.   I hope your heartstrings get stuck on the corners of this book, and please, let the blooming bodies and voices in this binding act as ghosts to cradle you into a higher realm of humanity. I hope this brings the same community feeling as I have experienced while working on this project to those who need it—a tangible beacon for self-discovery. It’s important that we popularize the narratives of the margins, so our society can one day be more inclusive of everybody outside of these constructed social norms. Let’s break them all, and sunbathe unchained in the light.

My name is Brittany Atkinson. I’m from Granville, Ohio, and am currently pursuing my master’s degree in the Master of Arts in Writing program at Coastal Carolina University. My pronouns are she/her/hers, and I have an adoration for poetry, endless cups of coffee, sunflowers, and wearing overalls.

My interest in this project lies in its ability to provide a platform for the voices of marginalized groups. Not only have I learned more about the trans community through this project, but also recognized the many ways in which the South, as a geological location and ideology, intersects with the trans community. I hope through this project that readers will realize that trans communities are not separate entities on the outskirts of their own lives, but rather an intimate, important part of all of our communities, and their voices need to be heard.

I am Olivia Dimatteo and I identify as a female going by she and her pronouns. I am a senior Communication major and English minor from Fort Mill, S.C.

When I was first presented with this project, I was excited for an opportunity to work on something that was more than just a letter grade- in fact, it would be something that would outlive me. My favorite concept within writing and publishing, is that it is eternal. I knew these stories had the potential to become history, to live on forever. As we continued working, this became more evident as the stories came to life, demonstrating beauty and power like I had never experienced. It has been truly incredible to learn and grow from each person within the project- whether it be interviewee, co-worker, design team, etc. Growing throughout the process, I faced more self confrontation and recognition than I had originally imagined. With that, this experience has shown me a side of humanity that will forever be demonstrated through our work and I couldn’t be more proud.

My name is Ian Livingston Brooking and I am a senior communications major from Somerset, Kentucky. My preferred pronouns are he, his and him.

I joined this project in an effort to understand a community that I had little knowledge of as well little experience in working with. While some people do not consider Kentucky as part of the South, I have dealt with many prejudices growing up in southern Kentucky. I was raised Catholic and attended the only Catholic church in a 30-mile radius. Somerset is a very Baptist community and I spent most of my time in middle and high school being told that my beliefs were wrong and that I was not ‘saved’. I suffered prejudices from people I considered as friends and fellow Christians.

However, I was most shocked when I came out as someone that supports equal rights (including same-sex marriage) that people in my own Catholic church community said that I was wrong and that is not “what I believe”.

Dealing with that for over seven years is what led me to this class and I have loved every minute of it. I have loved working with people who are open and accepting as well as listening to interviews of people who have suffered because they just wanted one thing: acceptance.

I have made it my life’s mission as a journalist to be the voice for someone who feels that their story does not matter or that no one wants to listen to their story. I will always be an advocate for equal rights and I hope that members of the LGBTQ+ are proud of the work that myself and my classmates have done.

My name is Shonte Clement, and I am a Senior Digital Culture and Design student from Greenville, South Carolina. My preferred pronouns are she, hers, and hers. I am a Black cisgender woman, and I identify as bisexual.

I originally wanted to be a part of this project to learn more about the life experiences of those in the trans community. It was meant to be an act of solidarity as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. I also wanted to learn of the different struggles trans people face that I may never know, and how I could be a better ally to the community as a whole. As the project went on, I realized that reason was not deep enough for me. I learned so much from interviewing those that were willing to speak with us. There is a whole worldview and perspective that I will never have because I am a cis-woman. Hearing these stories and life experiences made me aware of how deeply we should care about the trans experience. 

Being a part of this process has really increased my heart’s capacity; I cried during most of the interviews that I conducted. I was already soft-hearted, but I realized that being empathetic and genuinely caring about what people have to say is my best way to live. It is so important that we are invested in these stories not only because they are about people around us, but because their lack of visibility shows us where we are in our humanity. People say that you can only care so much, but you have to push that care to its limit before declaring where it ends. I’m incredibly grateful, because this project has shown me that I want to live my life caring to the fullest extent.