Oregon State University students have organized a Speak-Out event in response to concerning transphobic Oregon legislation and it will take place Thursday at noon at the Student Experience Center on the Corvallis campus.

According to a press release by emerson barrett, doctoral student in the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies program, these eight new bills — HB2186, HB2477, HB3044, HB3137, SB452, SB453, SB749 and SB897 — would restrict members of trans, non-binary and intersex communities from accessing gender-affirming healthcare, including incarcerated people and other adults. 

The press release states that this legislation would also force school administration to violate the privacy of youth by outing them to their parents, and will keep trans people from being able to take part in athletics outside of their biological sex.

At Speak-Out, which is open to the public, scholars and activists will talk about the potential fallout of these bills for Oregonians and how transphobia connects to other discriminatory systems.

According to the press release, these bills negatively impact the sovereignty of Native American Nations due to their treaty rights to federal healthcare services, as well as Black and Indigenous youth who already face poor treatment in the medical field among other things.

A Teach-In will take place Feb. 23 at the OSU Pride Center in Room 112 of the Student Experience Center to dig deeper into the history of gender systems and transphobia. This event is for Oregon State University students, faculty and staff only. 

Both the Speak-Out and Teach-In are sponsored by the OSU Queer Studies Program, Kaku-Ixt Mana Ina Haws, Hattie Redmond Women and Gender Center, Centro Cultural César Chávez, SOL and the Pride Center.