OREGON S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE
-----------community •-----------
Out In The Open
Trans student fears for safety after outing in Clark College paper
After being outed in a Clark College stu
dent newspaper article, transgender sopho
more Charlie W. (who requested that Just Out
refrain from publishing his last name) says he
fears he may be vulnerable to attack or harass
ment and is exploring legal action against The
Independent.
Though Charlie, 18, says his transgender
identity isn’t necessarily a secret, he is con
cerned about the implications of having such
personal information shared in such a public
forum, especially in light of last fall’s neo-Nazi
activity on campus.
“I know for a fact that the student that was
the spokesperson for that [neo-Nazi] group
still attends Clark,” Charlie says. “I hate to
think about what might happen to me if he
put two and two together and I’m more than
sure that he would target me.”
Charlie was interviewed by sophomore
Sean Lindsay, 24, following a recent Queer
Penguins and Allies event called “I Now Pro
nounce You...” in which students raised aware
ness about same-sex marriage by holding
mock weddings. Aside from a request to be
referred to by male pronouns, Charlie says he
did not make any statement about his gender
APRIL 15. 2011
13
J ,«
b y e r in r o o k
identity or personal history.
agreed to remove the offending line from the
“Most of their response obviously
But when the article came out on March 9,
online article, but Charlie says he felt his
came
from
a
place
of
not
Charlie was described in it as someone who
safety concerns were not taken seriously.
“was born a woman but identifies with the understanding the threat that this
“Most of their response obviously came
male gender.”
from a place of not understanding the threat
caused for me. One of them asked
“I don’t generally make it a secret to those
that this caused for me. One o f them asked
that I talk w ith ,’Charlie explains,“but I’m not me if I had actually received a threat
me it I had actually received a threat yet,”
out completely to my family—only my mother. yet. They seemed to take a ‘What’s
Charlie recalls. “They seemed to take a ‘W h at’s
My friends know. I haven’t actually outright
done is done and we can’t really do anything
done
is
done
and
we
can’t
really
do
said that I’m trans in the past when talking to
about it’approach.”
people— I’ve just told people my pronouns anything about it’ approach.”
The Independent's editors did not respond to
and they drew conclusions based on my ap
-CHARLIE W. Just Out's requests for comment. Finken says
pearance, voice and other features.”
the staff takes Charlie’s concerns seriously but
Lindsay made the leap from conclusions he Yet he admits he did not ask Charlie any ques would not say why the Independent staff re
drew from Charlie’s presentation to stating as tions about his gender identity or sexual ori fused to pull the print issues.
fact information he did not seek to verify— entation during the interview.
“In this instance, we are reaching out to fac
something he said he now regrets.
Once a string of “heavily worded” emails ulty, staff and students— including members of
“After the interview I became unsure as to from Queer Penguins members made it clear the Queer Penguin club— to gain a greater un
whether it would be honest journalism to use that Lindsay’s wording was problematic, he sat derstanding of the issues that have been raised,”
male pronouns despite [Charlie] physically ap down with Charlie, Q P representative Alexa Finken says. “We take their concerns seriously.
pearing to be female,” Lindsay explains. “Be Peterson-Burg, Independent faculty adviser Dee We believe this is a learning opportunity— in
cause o f my uncertainty I spoke with editors on Anne Finken, Independent editor-in-chief Katie our newsroom and beyond.”
the issue and came up with the sentence that Unverzagt, Independent executive editor Lisa
Lindsay says he hopes The Independent will
was put in the print edition of the newspaper.” Higuchi and multicultural retention manager come up with a policy to address these issues
Lindsay says he thought that, given the na Felisciana Peralta to discuss the situation.
in the future. J#]
ture of the event, Charlie’s membership in the
Lindsay says he “sincerely apologized” for
LG BT community was relevant to the story. the mistake and that the Independent staff' Just O ut willfollow this story as it develops.
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