As a Columbia School of Social Work student, this summer I had the amazing opportunity to work with Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work’s Center for Sexuality and Gender (SCSG). The center advocates to achieve sexuality and gender equity and justice. This center, the first and only of its kind in the nation housed within a school of social work, is the reason I applied to graduate school. I was a yoga teacher holding space for queer and trans folks, and with the unprecedented amount of anti-trans legislation in the US, I was motivated to advocate and for my community and support them through the trauma they are working through.

During my time with SCSG, I launched a trans joy storytelling project to uplift trans voices and experiences in a positive, multidimensional light. Trans joy is not always upheld by mainstream media, and thus offering a counternarrative is a radical act of resistance. This flipping of the script about what it means to be trans is in itself a refusal; a refusal that some may say represents what it means to be trans. Through this project, we are sharing a transdimensional, if you will, display of what it means to be trans and what trans joy is. There are countless examples and varieties of transness. To maintain the integrity of this project, I have ensured thoughtful outreach and the formulation of possible interviewees. This project aims to primarily center transness and trans communities. Lastly, I have used my experience in social media management to create a campaign around trans joy online.

With this project, I have been able to utilize social work skills. When interviewing participants, I have used motivational interviewing to allow them to open up while making sure they feel comfortable. While participants are sharing personal information with me, such as mental health issues, body dysmorphia, or physical health, I have upheld the ethical principles of social work: social justice, dignity, the worth of a person, and the importance of human relationships.

We have committed to sharing diverse stories to honor the wide array of trans experiences. To be trans is not a monolith and thus is crucial to uphold integrity and competence, two other social work ethics that I have applied in this internship. I’ve used social work core principles in the recruitment process of interviewees and in the interview process, including project explanation, filming of videos, and the follow-up care. Lastly, I have used my writing skills honed at Columbia to create meaningful project proposals, narratives, and social media captions.

Having a trans mentor this summer was paramount to my internship experience. Working on such groundbreaking projects has been challenging, as funding is limited and we rely heavily on volunteer community engagement. In an ideal world, we would have received more funding, allowing us to hold events and film multiple interviews at once, instead of traveling all over the city for one interview, which can be very time consuming.

In a time of unprecedented cis-supremacist legislation in the US, it’s subversive to focus on trans joy. In the threat of endangerment, especially for trans women of color, trans existence is resistance. Focusing on trans joy and gender euphoria is a way of humanizing the trans experience; trans lives are sacred. Highlighting joy and desire in trans and non-binary communities must be at the forefront of our liberatory organizing.

I learned how much I can personally benefit from focusing on joy and approaching under-served communities from a strengths-based approach, as opposed to a needs-based approach. This deficit model has been proven inefficient in community development, a field I previously occupied, so it is no surprise. Showing trans joy also sparks sympathetic joy, creating a ripple effect for trans, gender non-conforming, non-binary, gender diverse, and even cisgender-heterosexual viewers.

Trans and cis people alike benefit from viewing the multitudes of gender euphoria and joy. Representation and visibility are key to showing others who come after us, including youth and those still yet to come out, that thriving while trans is possible, even while facing challenges. My heart has been cracked open this summer as I witnessed my peers experience joy and tell their own stories with such courage and humility. It has been an honor to platform trans voices here in New York City, many of whom we don’t normally hear from. They’re not public figures; just everyday people living their lives and doing their best each day to serve the communities they’re a part of. That’s a beautiful gift to witness. My trans joy and ability to access it has increased and I’m so thankful.