To kick off UW-Madison’s “Out and About” month, Congress’s first openly transgender staff member spoke about his personal identity and recent position working for openly gay House representative Barney Frank at the Pyle Center April 11.
Since being appointed the assistant in the fourth district of Massachusetts, Diego M. Sanchez said he and House Rep Barney Frank have found themselves as a safe haven for LGBT Massachusetts residents who want to further expand their rights or even report attacks on their community.
Sanchez said the ultimate goal of his membership in the LGBT association of the House is to defend those who also identify as transgender and thereby “create reality of openness through existence, generosity and courage.”
For the remainder of his tenure, Sanchez said he is working to promote legislation that advances the transgender community, such as to break the stigma that surrounds transgender people changing in public locker rooms.
Still, he insisted that he cannot accomplish all these tasks on his own. Sanchez said it is crucial for the younger generations to increase their role in raising awareness of LGBT issues in society.
“Us, as the older generation, will always have your back but you will define the paths of the future,” he said.
Sanchez said upon being accepted to Frank, he was invited to join the Gay and Lesbian association of the House.
While the association initially only recognized those who associated themselves as gay or lesbian, Sanchez said he was taken by surprise when the House formally changed the name to LGBT to recognize transgender staff members after he was admitted to the group four years ago.
The house legislative assistant said his parents remain his biggest heroes because of the love and support they showed him from a young age as he struggled with his identity.
Sanchez recounted the initial anxiety he felt when he first revealed to his parents, that despite his birth as a woman, he associated himself as a male. He told his mother he “was born wrong.”
During the month of April, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Campus Center Campus Center will continue to partner with other organizations across campus to help raise awareness of LGBT issues. Other events include an LGBT Sex Out Loud safe sex program, a TransGenderQueer Spectrum Mix and Mingle, a suicide prevention walk and a screening of the film “The Paper Mirror.”
The month will end with a Rainbow Graduation at which graduating students can receive rainbow tassels and LGBTQ will award two students Student of the Year and Ally of the Year. The graduation will take place April 24 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Red Gym.
