WEBVTT

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Ladies and gentlemen is a common phrase
used to greet large audiences of people,

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much like yourself.

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But how can 3 words, and only 3 words
be entirely oppressive

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towards a whole group of people?

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My name is Charlie Hobman,
and today it is my aim to shed light

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on that very question,
and many others just like it.

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From the moment I was born
I was raised as a female.

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But they got it wrong.

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I am male, I identify entirely as male,

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and I've always been male.

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To most people
this is completely confusing.

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How is it possible for this person
to go from being Samantha Kate Hobman

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to being Charles Francis Hobman?

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How is that even possible?

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The answer is simpler than you think.

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I am female to male transgender.

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From a young age I knew I was different.

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This sounds incredibly cliche,

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but it's also incredibly accurate.

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Whilst my sister was inside
playing with dolls,

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watching High School Musical,
trying on my mom's wedding dress,

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I was outside riding my bike,
climbing trees, falling out of the trees,

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catching lizards and whatever I could
get my hands on.

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More often than not, I would come inside
with scratches, bruises, grazes,

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but I didn't care.

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That's how I was expressing myself.

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I was happy to express myself in that way.

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At this point in time I had no idea

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what gender identity
or what gender roles were.

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I didn't know what was masculine
or what was feminine.

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I was doing what made me happy.

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Now I must say, at this point,
that I don't believe gender roles

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should be enforced in society,
but at that time,

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what I was doing,
was considered masculine.

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And as I grew up, it got harder.

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I kept to myself because
I felt like I was lying to people

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by presenting myself as female.

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When I made friends,

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I felt I was keeping
my whole life away from them,

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because I wasn't ready to admit to myself
or to others, who I really was.

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But things have changed.

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I came out. I shed that skin
and set fire to the façade.

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I came out and haven't looked back since.

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I am able to stand before you today
and say, "This is who I am,

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and this is who I'm going to be,
this is where I've been,

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and this is where I'm going to be next."

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So let's talk about technicalities.

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First of all, sex, gender identity,
and gender expression

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are 3 entirely different things
that overall make up your identity.

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Sex is what you hide under your clothes,
your private parts.

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Gender identity is what you identify as.


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As I've told you, I identify as male.

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Gender expression is how you
outwardly express your gender.

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So, before I came out I was presenting
myself as female to people.

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People would perceive me as female
because I would wear feminine clothing

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and present myself in a feminine manner.

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Now I present myself in masculine manner,

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therefore making
my gender expression masculine.

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So these 3 things come together,
to make your gender identity.

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There are a few things
that we need to talk about.

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A few things everyone needs to know

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regardless of whether
you're transgender or not.

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First of all, transgender people
have the right

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to use whichever bathroom they prefer.

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There is no law dictating which bathroom
we can and cannot use.

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What do we need to happen?

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I am afraid of a lot of things.

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I am afraid of going to a workplace
and being discriminated.

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I am afraid of telling people who I am.

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I'm getting better at it,
but it's still difficult for me.

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So how can we spread awareness?

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How can we make it more possible
for people to understand and accept

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people like me into their community?

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Because that's what needs to happen.

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I think a good step towards that
is an appropriate representation

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in sexual education at schools.

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Without it, kids won't understand
or know what being transgender is.

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I have come out to so many people
who have turned around and said,

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"I don't understand
what you're talking about.

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Please explain to me."

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And I'll happily explain but it shocks me
how so few people in this country

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[do] understand it.

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The problem isn't within ourselves,

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it's within the sexual education system.

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We have the opportunity to teach students
about who we are and what we stand for.

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This doesn't just add towards
a more accepting and peaceful community.

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This means that people who are questioning
their own gender and their own issues

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will be able to stand forward
and get rid of that uncertainty

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that I was missing.

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I didn't have that opportunity to know
what I was feeling.

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I didn't know what it was called.

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That uncertainty kept me within my shell
and it kept me hiding away from who I am.

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With appropriate representation
in sexual education classes,

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people who are questioning their gender
can freely think about it,

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because it's something
that people should explore,

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whether you identify as transgender
or not you should explore

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your gender and gender expression.


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Self-discovery is such an important thing
that I don't understand

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why it's not enforced more
into our school society.

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We've come a long way. 


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50 years ago I wouldn't be able
to be here now.

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I wouldn't be able
to stand in front of you.

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As a community we are able
to consolidate, form a group,

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bond together to get,
not just as trans people,

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but you involved, too.

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Us as a community.

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We are able to come together and fight
for what we believe in,

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we can stand up and say,
"We exist. We have always existed.

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And we always will exist.

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And there is no way
we can be erased from society."

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As "Time" put it,
we're at the transgender tipping point.

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We are moving forward
and we are doing it for humanity.

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I want to be able to walk down the street.

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I want to be able to walk
into a men's bathroom

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without being yelled at.

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I want equal rights.

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I do not want to be oppressed.

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How can we do this
if we don't work together?

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Us trans people are making a lot of noise.
Which is good.

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We are telling people this is who we are.

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This is who we authentically are,
something we cannot change,

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something that has been wired
into our genetics.

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That isn't going to change.

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What can change, people's outlook on us,

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people's perspective.


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People's perspective on gender roles
in general,

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like it shouldn't be a thing
for it to be weird

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for a man to wear a dress. 


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It needs to be something
that is cherished and accepted.

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I can tell you from my own personal
experience, coming out is really scary.

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It can be made a lot easier if accurate
representation in media existed.

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The media, up until now,
is mostly comprised -

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for the transgender side of media -
is most comprised

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of using transgender people
as a satirical device.

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They think it's funny.

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Using slurs.

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Making it into a joke.

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That's not what we're about.

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We are not here to be laughed at.

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We are human beings.

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Like I said earlier,
ladies and gentlemen,

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is an oppressive term

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because gender identity
is not a straight line,

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it's not male and female at either end.

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It is a whole entire spectrum.

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There are so many
different gender options.

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Facebook alone offers 71 different
gender variants.

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A couple of them:

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male, female, genderless - which is where
you don't identify as any gender,

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or gender fluid - where you can transition
between both male and female

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or a third gender.


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There are many more but it is something
that people need to learn more about

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in order to understand.

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It is my goal, and I hope
you will join me on this journey,

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to keep moving forward.

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In the past century we have come so far
that it is beyond the point

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that I'm able to come in front of you

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and list all of the things
that have happened

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that's been good.

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But I can tell you right now,
there's still so much that we can do.

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So really, the question is,
when are you going to do it?

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(Applause)