ISU Anderson Center to host speaker Boag in observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance on Nov. 4

The Idaho State University Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center will host Dr. Peter Boag on Thursday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Salmon River Suite of the Pond Student Union. 

This event, in honor of National Transgender Day of Remembrance, is free and open to the public.  Observance

Transgenderism, involving all its contemporary complexities of acceptance and integration, is not an issue only surfacing in the early 21^st century. Boag’s lecture will illustrate, through the use of historical and contextual research, how transgenderism has existed throughout many centuries and the cultural eras that defined them.

Through a careful and critical reading of sources, Boag will demonstrate that the existence of Trans people in western gender history has been documented all along.  Dr. Boag will discuss an in-process book project entitled, “Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past.” After providing a brief synopsis of the book and why he has decided to write it, Boag will then share some of his most interesting stories of the transgender people of whom he is writing.

In thorough re-evaluation of historical sources, Boag offers the insightful message of humanities research: History facilitates contemporary perspective; through history one may come to better comprehend the current societal issues facing “trans people.”

The Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center is hosting the article discussion in recognition of Transgender Day of Remembrance, an internationally observed memorial of those who have lost their lives due to anti-trans hatred, prejudice and violence. First observed in 1998, the mission of Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to raise awareness of transgender issues and to mourn those who might otherwise be forgotten.

The Anderson Center at Idaho State University serves as the focal point on campus for the consideration of gender issues and is especially guided by the ideal of diversity, which allows us to envision a future free of the limitations imposed by our culture’s standard definitions of gender and other categories of difference.

For more information, contact the Anderson Center at (208)-282-2805.

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