Shift Happens lights a torch for Chapman’s transgender students

Photo courtesy of Marisa Lamas

“Self-actualization is liberation,” said sophomore political science major Mari Caliboso, at Chapman’s third annual Trans Remembrance Day. “We will not stop until every trans and non-binary person — that may not be able to live authentically — lives to see that reality.”

A somber atmosphere set over the Fish Interfaith Center on Oct. 18 as the university community commemorated Trans Remembrance Day, honoring victims of transphobic violence across the country. Yet, amidst this heaviness, a spotlight shone upon the voices of Chapman’s trans students and allies paving the way for a brighter future. Enter Chapman’s club for transgender and nonbinary students: Shift Happens.

“There was (no club) for the longest time. I was the only trans woman I knew at Chapman. That was really isolating,” said senior writing for film and television major and the vice president of the club, Rosalyn Doyle. “Shift Happens was a space where not only could I be the most comfortable and be able to express myself the most, but also a space where I was able to meet people like me who had those shared experiences.”

Shift Happens didn’t become an official on-campus organization until last year, yet the roots of the club reach back much further. Initially, Shift Happens was a support group for parents of younger trans kids in middle and high school. As those students grew up and came to Chapman, the club shifted and became an unofficial group for trans students on campus in the 2010s.

“Our mere existence is a form of resistance, especially in this current political state with the amount of people trying to push so (much) harmful rhetoric against transgender and non-binary people,” said Caliboso, who is secretary for Shift Happens. 

The simple act of having the club on campus is a form of pushback against anti-trans agendas, but for Caliboso it is also simply a place of welcoming and representation.

“(We are) a club that openly advertises that there are transgender and non-binary people on our campus in the middle of a largely Republican part of California, a very liberal state,” Caliboso said. “It's not what I would call a beacon, but just a really open safe space for people on our campus.”

Throughout the year, the club offers a social space for trans and non-binary students as well as educational opportunities. Alongside several major events throughout the year, such as Trans Visibility Day in March, Trans Remembrance Day offers a crucial time of reflection for the community as transphobic rhetoric and violence against the transgender community have rapidly increased across the country.

“I implore you all to remember the names of those we've lost. Hold them in your hearts and continue onwards with your heads held high,” said Caliboso at the university’s Trans Remembrance Day. “If we are to buckle under the pressure, the people above us who continue to suppress us will win. There is still work to be done for ourselves and for our future.”  

The event was a collaboration between several on-campus clubs as well as the faculty of Chapman’s LGBTQ+ Studies program. In this collaboration, the event reached Chapman's queer students as well as allies in empowering community voices.

“I've known people who feel unsafe transitioning in this climate, and aren’t able to feel like they can be who they want to be for so long, (because of) these people who lie as easily as they breathe, spreading hate about people. And I do blame them. Every drop of trans blood, I blame on their actions, their words, their speech that they profit on,” said sophomore music student Violet Kamenetsky. 

But Kamenetsky doesn’t believe that hope for a better future should be lost.

“I think that the best way to combat that is these events that make us feel like we have a safe community where we really can be ourselves and that we know that there's at least one place where we won't be judged for who we are,” Kamenetsky said.

For many members of Shift Happens, the club is a welcome escape from encroaching political oppression in a country that increasingly puts trans rights at risk. While it’s important to stay informed on the attacks towards the trans community, it’s also important to not allow this violence to control the conversation. In Shift Happens, positive change is emphasized. By creating a space defined by trans joy, the club becomes a model for better systems of support.

Yet while safe spaces like Shift Happens are crucial in finding joy in spite of difficult surroundings, Doyle reiterated that this aspect is only one piece of broader institutional change that needs to take place to ensure safety for all genderqueer people.

“This idea of finding joy as resistance is something you see a lot, especially in these very turbulent political times,” said Doyle. “I think we do want to help people find joy, but let's also make sure we're not mistaking just being joyful for political resistance. Let's make sure we're actually doing the work.”

Last year, the club took part in on-campus protests pushing back against the removal of the DEI program. Now a full semester into a DEI-less Chapman, its effects are taking hold. As members voiced, the program’s disintegration is one of the most immediate issues facing trans students on campus. 

“It feels like there’s less protection for minority students on campus, and it feels like they're becoming less and less visible,” said Caliboso. “Yes, we still have these cultural clubs, but without that DEI insurance, it feels like there's less protection for students like us to be more open and seen.”

In spite of this, Shift Happens is stronger now than ever before. Doing more events and seeing upticks in membership, the club is continuing to find light in the face of a troubling atmosphere. As the club looks to enter its second year of being an official Chapman organization, Shift Happens continues to ensure that trans and non-binary students on campus will continue to find a platform for their voice and to find community.

“Tonight, we won't change the world; tomorrow, there may be a reason why we hesitate again,” said associate history professor LL Hodges, who is teaching Chapman’s first trans studies course, in their remarks at Trans Remembrance Day. “But if we work with our hesitations, in our hesitations, ushering in those moments of the trans past, we can look to another space. Not searching for hope to come from the outside, but seeing something else within this space right now, something within us.”