Laura Sjoberg once saw a transgendered person being harassed by airport security and knew she wanted to stop it from happening again.
“To get people to understand discrimination, they have to understand privilege,” she said.
Sjoberg, an associate professor of political science, was one of two panelists who led “Politics of Privilege,” an intimate discussion with 15 people held in the Atrium at Ustler Hall Tuesday night. The discussion was sponsored by UF LGBT Affairs and co-sponsored by the UF Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research.
Esther Tebbe, a 25-year-old UF counseling psychology graduate student, was the other speaker on the panel. Her research includes transgender issues, including career decision-making, aspects of discrimination and the transition process.
Tebbe and Sjoberg dug into the root of transgender discrimination and topics of cisgender privilege, biphobia and transphobia with the panel.
“Everyone has a degree of unfamiliarity,” Sjoberg said. “And everyone deals with unfamiliarity in a different way.”
LGBT Affairs intern Marla Munro said the discussion has no connection to the hate crime committed against a UF law professor last week. She said every group within Diversity and Multicultural Affairs will host a discussion about privilege this semester.
“This is about starting conversations of looking toward the future, evoking change in our own lives and discussion in the community,” Munro said.
Psychology senior Logan Stallings, 21, said he is happy there was dialogue in the discussion.
“We not just looked outwardly, but inwardly,” Stallings said.
