An object that really stood out to me during our session at the Rare Books and Special Collections library was the little section in my article of the Empty Closet. My article was dated January 1975 Number 46, the small section in the newspaper was titled: “Transexual Murder.” I think that this piece is important and if we can find others like it, that they should be included in the exhibition for a few reasons. One, I think that it shows the progression of the LGBTQ movement and how trans people were not included in the moment originally. I think that highlighting this is important because its essential to show where the movement started and how far the movement has improved since then. Second, I think this piece and other like it are important because it generates questions about the trans population that is now included in the LGBTQ moevement as well as calls to question other forms of identity, such as class and race.
In the article, it tells the story of Leah Wilder, age 33 who was murdered off campus in the city of Rochester in 1975. Her story can be found only if you were to look through the paper carefully. I honestly glossed right over it the first few times I looked through it, and it was only pointed out to Raul and myself by Lina. I am glad that she did because, like I mentioned above, I think this article speaks to the importance to the trans movement and acceptance within the LGBTQ community. I tried searching for more information on Leah Wilder, but was unsuccessful in finding anything. One thing’s for sure, although there may be no record of her anywhere else, she will forever be remembered through this article. I am happy that I got the opportunity to learn a little about her.
Originally, I had a hard time thinking about a particular example of inclusion that left me unsatisfied. But after a little while of thinking, I think I felt this way last semester in one of my GSW classes. The reason why I felt this way was because during the class I was surrounded by people that were invested in learning about topics within my major but my peers did not take into consideration the fact that class and race play a factor into our discussions. I found myself constantly having to bring up issues of race and I found our conversations limiting to open discussion.