October 11, 2016
12:30pm
Jeffords Auditorium
Teri Wilhelm is a complicated person with an amazing story to tell. She is a visual, digital and musical artist, a math instructor at SUNY Adirondack College, a retired New York State corrections officer and former union activist as well as a firearms and chemical agents instructor. And, after five decades of hindrance and denial, Teri can finally live her life honestly and share her experiences of becoming a confident woman for the support and betterment of the transgender community.
A former Castleton University student who now facilitates a transgender support group, Wilhelm will bring her story to Castleton University students as part of a talk entitled, “Being Transgender.”
It’s an educational narrative of child abuse, persistent masculinization, personal growth and insufferable disappointments of a transgender woman. Ms. Wilhelm will walk the audience through her life’s journey of conflicting forces and initiatives. She’ll explain how the agonizing undertaking of self-realization unfolded for her, the process of coming out, therapy, verbal and non-verbal communication and, most of all, the difficult and strenuous effort she and her wife have undergone to keep their 30-year marriage together.
She will make logical arguments for transgender rights and protections, and lay bare the myriad of issues facing them daily in housing, medical care, employment and, especially, in education. Questions are welcome during the presentation.
This event is free and open to the public.