Transgender people come in all sexual orientations. They may choose to undergo surgery or they may not. They may identify anywhere or--possibly--nowhere on the traditional gender spectrum. What does it mean to be transgender? What's it like to transition from one gender identity to another? What's happening in the fight for acceptance and equal rights for trans people? And how can cis (non-trans) people help?
Autumn Sandeen will address these questions and others at Cafe Inquiry on April 30, 2014. Ms. Sandeen is a US Navy Persian Gulf War veteran, a 20-year retiree with a 100% VA disability rating (service connected). In support of her lesbian, gay and bisexual community siblings, Autumn went to jail twice after protesting (in uniform) the military's now repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" legislation at the White House fence. In 2013, she was the first transgender veteran to publicly change her documented gender with the Department of Defense. Autumn Sandeen was a long time blogger for Pam's House Blend, and with that blog covered the Angie Zapata Hate Crime Murder trial from the Greeley, Colorado courtroom. Autumn is currently an Editor at The Transadvocate, and is the Trans Progressive columnist for San Diego's LGBT Weekly.