By Connor Lalea Hampton, April 22, 2025
For many trans individuals, the concept of trans joy is an act of resistance.
Since the beginning of the Trump administration, struggles in the transgender community have dominated headlines. According to Trans Legislation Tracker, there have been 77 anti-trans legislation bills passed this year, with 857 in total under consideration.
Two hundred fifty-two of the bills being tracked specifically target education and aim to deny students the right to gender identification in classrooms.
Despite this, transgender individuals at Cal Poly Pomona have found sanctuary in each other and their sense of identity.
“I feel liberated coming here because I don’t have to hide any aspects of myself as a disabled person,” said Devon Pizano, a psychology student. “I’m able to stim and be myself as an autistic person. As a trans person, I’m able to use the bathroom that I choose without fear. Whereas at home or in my community, I can’t do that…at least while I’m here, while I’m studying, I feel safe.”
CPP students find that a joyful act of living can be the spoonful of sugar that helps the struggle go down.
Pizano said being able to make his own choices about how he decides to express his gender is freeing for him.
“It’s a sense of resistance and rebellion, because I’m being who I am regardless of what government or politics say about who I am,” Pizano said. “Now, obviously I’m only doing that where it’s safe, but at least here at CPP I’m able to do that.”
Lysot, a sociology student who uses the pronouns they and it and has asked to be anonymous for safety purposes, said trans joy means liberation.
“I think about everyone, including trans people, but everyone, to be able to live in a space where they’re free from all these systems of oppression that keep us suffering,” Lysot said.
For Lysot, the binary is included in that. It said being able to define who it is without any outside pressures is important.
The liberation and continuation of trans joy is not a solitary endeavor, according to Lysot. They said the freedom of all oppressed and colonized people comes when people fight as one.
In this vein, the heart of trans joy at CPP is community.
Panda Rodriguez, an electromechanical systems engineering technology student, said the joy of being seen and accepted in places like the Pride Center is central to her everyday well-being.
“I do not exaggerate when I would say that I live and breathe in the Pride Center,” Rodriguez said. “If it wasn’t for the Pride Center, I don’t think I would have transitioned.”
Rodriguez said she thought she would be in the closet forever. Seeing other people in the community find their own trans joy was an indispensable experience for Rodriguez that eventually encouraged her transition. It’s why she wears the transgender flag as much as possible. She said the queer community at CPP is extremely positive.
Rodriguez said one of her most positive interactions was at Pride Formal, which was held last year at CPP. She also mentioned she headed straight for the Pride Center the first time she wore a dress.
“It was just a ‘I can’t have this anywhere else, this amount of joy,’” Rodriguez said. “I felt so connected with the community and I felt so happy to be who I was, to proudly be who I was and show that off.”
Ozzy Gonzalez, a biotech student, said he uses the Pride Center as a way to escape from challenges like misgendering.
“I know that this person sees me as the way that I am, and I see them the way that they want to be perceived,” Gonzalez said. “There’s just so much comfortability in that.”
Trans joy is also found in smaller, personal moments. For Gonzalez, they recalled a time when they were younger and had a mustache. The mustache caused another person to assume Gonzalez was a man.
“At the moment, I remember feeling so much joy in being able to be perceived as male,” Gonzalez said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God. I love this so much.’”
Pizano said he cried tears of joy when he first put on a binder as a 20-year-old, and as a result, he finally felt comfortable in his body, knowing that it matched how he feels on the inside.
Trans students at CPP still face challenges both on and offcampus. Multiple trans students said misgendering and invasive questions were realities that they have confronted. Despite this, they said the campus overall has granted many the chance to have a space for their identity where they otherwise wouldn’t have it outside of school.
Lysot said inclusive material in gender, ethnicity and multicultural studies classes has helped them feel seen as a closeted student. It also said making art and queer characters has helped it have fun with its identity in a time where they aren’t fully able to express it.
Gonzalez added that he wanted to emphasize that trans joy is just the joy that comes from being yourself and being able to show it to the world.
“I feel like everybody needs a little bit of that,” Gonzalez said. “That type of joy of being able to express themselves authentically the way that they want to express themselves.”
Feature image courtesy of Connor Hampton
