Despite the difficulty of topics discussed, the mood was light at the Lambda Alliance’s panel discussion about transgender on Monday.

“I think a lot of the time when we try to talk about things, we don’t have the language to talk about it,” said Caleb, a trans-male Athens resident.

A group spoke about what it means to be transgender – an umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. For an open environment, transgender panelists did not give their last names during the discussion.

Panel members said parts of speech as simple as pronouns can become confusing when discussing transgender issues.

Ethan, a University student and trans-male, said when referring to transgender friends as he or she, “You really should just do what they want you to do.”

Many people know very little about transgenders, said Kasi, a trans-male student.

“When I want to talk with my friends about trans issues, it’s always a long conversation,” Kasi said, pointing out that transsexuality is not as widely understood as homosexuality and bisexuality.

“I would say we’re part of the queer umbrella, but because there are so many trans pronouns that are part of what you do, it’s harder to micromanage,” Ethan said.

Being transsexual or transgender is harder than talking about it, panelists said.

Natalie, a trans-female student, said she faced discrimination on campus.

“I worked at the dining hall for two years and while they never fired me, they made my life as hard as possible,” she said.

Natalie said she spent eight months searching for a new job and dealing with harassment from coworkers about things as simple as which bathroom she should use.

Caleb said he faces similar hardships.

“I face much more discrimination as a trans person than a queer person. I got fired from two jobs while I was coming out,” he said.

Caleb said he drives five miles below the speed limit to avoid harassment from police officers.

“I’m also really afraid of getting hurt in an accident. You hear all the time about EMTs not providing proper care to people for being [transgender].”

Conner, a trans-male student, is also careful with his safety.

“Most of the time when people get targeted for hate crimes it’s because they look outside their gender roles.”

Conner described how equal rights legislation for the queer community often left out transsexuals.

“That’s the loophole. Yeah, they can’t fire you because you’re gay, but can they protect you because you look like a girl?”

César, an Athens resident who is a trans-male, said to face many of the day-to-day difficulties, he ignores bigotry.

“Finding out that I can’t appease everyone with my masculinity let me find out how I define masculinity – there’s no blanket masculinity.”