Dr. Sherri Palmer, professor of psychology and Prism’s advisor, said bringing representation to campus is particularly important because Truman’s lgbtq plus community is “disproportionately large for the size of campus and town we are in.” Specifically in transgender individuals. It is difficult to state an exact number, as “it is not something people want to be measured on” Palmer said. Also, despite increasing acceptance of this community, people still “think it’s okay to bash on lgbtq plus” and even in that community, “trans people are further bashed.” When people see Ryan Sallans, however, they think of him as “friendly, open, and intelligent” Palmer said, and it helps to remove the negative stereotypes people may have of transgender individuals.
