Transgender leader, Mara Keisling, honored at Harvard

Transgender leader honored at Harvard
PlanetOut Network
Tuesday, May 9, 2006 / 02:06 PM

SUMMARY: Mara Keisling extols civil rights gains made by transgender people, including protections passed just last week in Hawaii and Vermont.

A Harvard University group has named transgender advocate Mara Keisling as the Outstanding Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Person of the Year, and she has been invited to address the university on LGBT issues.

Keisling, who is executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, was to give the annual Papadopoulos Lecture on Tuesday.

"It is an honor to be recognized with this award from one of the pre-eminent institutions of higher learning," said Keisling. "It speaks to just how far the movement for transgender civil rights has come in the past decade. I'm proud to be asked to speak to the Harvard community about the victories transgender advocates have made -- and continue to make -- against tremendous odds."

In the past week, both Vermont and Hawaii passed laws protecting the civil rights of transgender people.

"In four short years, we have increased sixfold the percentage of people in the United States who live in jurisdictions where legislatures have enacted protections for people based on gender identity and expression," said Keisling, according to an excerpt of her Tuesday speech provided to PlanetOut. "From 5 percent to 31 percent since the beginning of 2002 -- that is remarkable."

Keisling, a transgender woman and parent who did graduate work at Harvard, is the founding director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. She hails from Pennsylvania and has 25 years of professional experience in social marketing and opinion research.

Keisling's award was given by the Harvard Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters Alliance. Past honorees include Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer and California state Sen. Sheila Kuehl.