Elliot/El Hartshorn (they/them) is a junior from around Boston, MA, double majoring in Marine Biology and Gender and Women’s Studies. They have been working on many projects, including a mutual aid prisoner PenPal project, and has spoken at the RI Statehouse about issues affecting transgender people today. They are also the vice president of the Sexuality and Gender Association (SAGA).
El is currently working on a mutual aid group project in their GWS 350 class, Transgender Activism. They, along with their classmates, are becoming PenPals with incarcerated POC and trans people. El helped to create a project that focuses on helping to alleviate isolation and cultivate transformative justice in a society that targets POC and gender-variant people. Last year, on Trans Day of Visibility, they spoke at the RI Statehouse about their experiences as a white, disabled, transgender person. This was part of a nationwide “Marches for Queer and Trans Youth Autonomy”. “We marched from a Providence school to the Statehouse as a result of detrimental anti-trans legislation passed and to spread awareness that trans people exist and we are simply going to stay,” said El. They also have made accomplishments within the field of marine biology as well, studying lacuna vincta. They were chosen to present their research at the SACAS conference in Portland, Oregon.
El is the Vice President of SAGA, which is a student organization focused on being a safe space for LGBTQ+ students to learn about LGBTQ+ liberation, highlight queer activists who are not talked about enough, and empowering and supporting members of the club. “We aim to create a supportive and educational community where we can exist as ourselves without feeling obligated to perform in a specific way.”
“From the few classes I have taken, GWS has allowed me to not only get a better understanding of myself in terms of gender and sexuality, but also to see more about the truth of the human condition.” This is why El decided to add GWS as a major. They are also interested in learning about westernization and the way it intersects with gender and the social construction of disability. Their favorite class so far has been Transgender Activism with Joy Ellison.