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The RISE Lab

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TRANSnetwork

Transgender Health and Education Collaborative in the Southern US

Trans Health Research & Advocacy Network in the South (TRANSnetwork) is a diverse collaborative of trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming (TNBGNC) community members, as well as academic researchers and healthcare providers in Arkansas,  Georgia, North Carolina, and Louisiana. We are working together to improve the health and well-being of TNBGNC people in the South. We work with TNBGNC people who live in under-resourced communities and those  more affected by intersecting forms of oppression such as trans-prejudice, racism,  xenophobia, classism, and ableism. 

Beliefs & Values

Sustainability

We must make sure that we can keep working toward our mission. To do so we must:

  • Take good care of ourselves. If we are not feeling well, then we cannot do  our part to help others.

  • Connect with things and people that boost our energy and help us feel like  ourselves.

  • Find joy in our work if we want to keep it up. 

Liberation

We want to help TNBGNC people to feel free to be themselves. We try to do this by:

  • Reinforcing the right for TNBGNC people to have control over their  choices in life. 

  • Modeling for others that no one group or viewpoint should have power over others. 

  • Embracing that southern culture does not have one set of cultural norms. Being queer and TNBGNC is a part of southern culture. 

  • Actively condemning and combatting systemic and individual-level racism through learning about and engaging in anti-racism practices.

Intersectionality

We all have many identities and interlocking systems of  oppression influence the health of TNBGNC people (e.g. racism, classism,  sexism, xenophobia).  

  • Together these identities and interlocking systems of oppression may create greater advantages (privileges) or disadvantages (discrimination  and oppression). 

  • Those with more experiences of interlocking oppression should be at the  center of our concern (Black and Brown TNBGNC people, TNBGNC  people with disabilities, indigenous TNBGNC people, etc.) 

  • We will avoid a narrow focus on any one aspect of identity at the expense  of a wider perspective.

  • We will aim for “radical inclusivity,” actively and intentionally welcoming people who may often be excluded. 

Recognition, Collaboration, and Capacity Building

We want to celebrate, build on, and support the work that has already been done by others in our community.

  • Accessible Communication: We want our communication to be easy for everyone to understand. To do so we must make sure that information:

    • Avoids jargon related to research and medical care is

    • Provided in the language that people speak (i.e., Spanish and French  language resources)

    • Includes methods (such as video captioning and image descriptions for  assistive reading devices) to make them user-friendly and accessible for  those with disabilities

    • Uses language that focuses first on the person rather than on their disability

Black woman holding Black Power fist in the air

Newsletters

Archive of newsletters from TRANSnetwork coming soon! 

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