By: Max Bruns ~Staff Writer~

Transgender activist for the LGBTQIA community, JAC Stringer, brought a dialogue of acceptance to Xavier.

At 8 p.m. on Feb. 23 in the Kennedy Auditorium, Stringer gave a presentation on gender identity and flexibility. Stringer, who is also known as Midwest GenderQueer, has been vocal about equal rights his entire life.

His official statement on his website says, “As a humble representative of the communities to which I belong as a genderqueer transguy, femme, disabled, survivor, native and activist, I strive to root out the beauty beneath the oppression we experience.”

XU Alliance, Xavier’s LGBTQIA outreach group, invited Stringer to start a discussion about gender and labels and issues of discrimination which transgender people face, as well as how to become an LGBTQIA ally.

Stringer, an artist, educator, activist and social worker for the cause, exemplifies the message of acceptance which XU Alliance is trying to spread.

“I hope that sharing my voice will help raise my people’s communal voice and that my voluntary vulnerability on stage will educate viewers on the involuntary oppression of my communities off stage,” Stringer said.

Students of Gender and Diversity Studies were encouraged to attend the talk, as issues associated with gender and diversity includes the LGBTQIA community. Stringer has an awareness of the challenges faced by this community, as he brings the perspective of being a transgender from his own life into the conversation.

“Not all the dimensions of a piece may be fully translated to every audience, but I have found that each person forms their own interpretations, making each performance belong just as much to the audience as it does to me,” Stringer said.

XU Alliance meetings are held weekly at 6 p.m. in Smith Hall room 344, and speakers are welcomed to bring fresh perspectives to the culture of acceptance which is growing in our modern time.