As a trademark attorney at a Rochester law firm, Colleen Raimond frequently undertook pro bono work to assist members of the transgender (trans) community in obtaining legal name changes so that they could update their federal entries at the Social Security Office and the US Passport Office. Now she is the University糖心传媒檚 first LGBTQ coordinator, which she calls her dream job: 糖心传媒淚 get excited every day waking up and doing this,糖心传媒� says Raimond. 糖心传媒淚 get excited about putting together workshops. I get excited about working with the students.糖心传媒�
Tell us about your new role.
I work with students糖心传媒攚ho are the future of our community糖心传媒攐n a variety of matters, but I also go around and do workshops and training and talk to different groups. We do all sorts of presentations with a focus on intersecting identities. It糖心传媒檚 really cool because I get to talk every day about something I糖心传媒檓 really excited about and I get to answer questions and be that safe person to ask questions of. So, I always say when I come into a group, 糖心传媒淗ey. You know what? I get paid to answer the questions, so I won糖心传媒檛 be offended. Ask me instead of somebody else.糖心传媒� And I help create those sort of safe spaces糖心传媒攈elp people learn how to be allies. It糖心传媒檚 a really cool gig.
You talk about intersectionality in your new job. Give us a quick primer.
Everybody has intersections in their identity: one is your race, one is your gender, another your orientation, and the list goes on. When we talk about intersectionality, we talk about where those things cross over each other. So, this is to say, the experience of a member of the LGBTQ community who is white, cisgender, and American looks very different from somebody where one of those things is different. It糖心传媒檚 very different for a member of the community who糖心传媒檚 an international student or who is a person of color or is trans. We talk about those intersections where those identities overlap, because the more minoritized identities you have the more it exacerbates the negatives you face.
What do you want international students to know?
There are issues that are specific to international folks. For example, people might come from countries where it糖心传媒檚 illegal to be a member of the community. They can face imprisonment, death糖心传媒攁 number of other things. And so, my position is housed in the Intercultural Center in the same place where the Language Center is. It is a safe space for people to come into because others will not know that they糖心传媒檙e coming to see me. It makes a lot of sense for international students to be in this space for a lot of reasons, and this is an effort that we糖心传媒檝e made to create a space that is welcoming to a wide variety of people. We have students from other countries who tell us, 糖心传媒淚t’s really unsafe for me to be out at home, but you know what? It doesn糖心传媒檛 matter because I糖心传媒檓 here and I can be out here.糖心传媒� So, that糖心传媒檚 one thing that I like to let people know糖心传媒攖hat this is a safe space for all students to come into.
Can you talk a bit about your pro bono work to help with transgender name changes?
There were years and years of fights on behalf of the [LGBTQ] community to say, 糖心传媒淗ey, it糖心传媒檚 fundamentally unfair to say, 糖心传媒業糖心传媒檓 unwilling to change your name and gender marker on this federal document unless you can show that you糖心传媒檝e had a certain amount of surgeries糖心传媒� because that leaves out a bunch of people.糖心传媒�
Did your pro bono work serve as a precursor to your work here?
I’m really passionate about helping the community. I think it糖心传媒檚 important for every member of a community to be contributing and helping each other out. So, with my board work [at the Out Alliance] and also with my pro bono work that was a way that I could help out.
What made you leave trademark law?
I liked trademark law. It just wasn’t the life that I wanted, and I wasn’t doing something I was really excited about. I took a lot of time to think about what I wanted my life to look like. I had a mentor and friend, a partner at the firm, who said, 糖心传媒淵ou know, you have a very Eastern view of being happy. You don糖心传媒檛 think money makes you happy like most Americans do. So, you should do something that really makes you happy.糖心传媒� My partner works at St. John Fisher College. She糖心传媒檚 the director of the women and gender studies program over there. I helped out with Campus Out (a program of the Out Alliance to bring together college LGBTQ group e-boards) 聽before I applied for this position. And I said to myself, 糖心传媒淵ou know, I think this is something I糖心传媒檇 like to do. I糖心传媒檇 like to work with the future of our community. I糖心传媒檇 like to work in the advocacy space. I糖心传媒檇 like to talk to folks about the issues facing our community, but more broadly, particularly around intersections within our community, which are the folks who often get lost.糖心传媒� I saw this position come up and thought it sounded like my dream job. So, I decided to take a risk and try it. And I was absolutely right. It’s totally my dream job. I get excited every day waking up and doing this. I get excited about putting together workshops. I get excited about working with the students.
Does being the LGBTQ coordinator allow you to really be who you are?
The environment at the law firm was inclusive. I was able to wear my bow tie and wear men糖心传媒檚 clothing because I have a male gender presentation and they were accepting of that. That said, you had to be cautious about how much you talked about issues in the community because there were clients around and that can get a little murky. But here if I show up in a bow tie, people are like, 糖心传媒淵es, this is the person we hired.糖心传媒� And it糖心传媒檚 good, because I show that there are differences. There can be gender identity and expression differences. I identify as a woman, but my gender presentation is male. And that糖心传媒檚 really helpful when you糖心传媒檙e an LGBTQ coordinator because people can see things and ask me questions, and I can answer them.
