Mx. Lex Horwitz

✨I’m so excited to host and facilitate a day for learning and celebration, ending with my keynote, for on Monday, April 20th to kick off their Pride Week!

We have an action packed day with different events for the University of Colorado Colorado Springs and local community!

⬇️Check out more about each event ⬇️

🌟Student Life🌟: This program centers on how to build community and resilience in the face of tough times, including conversation on self-care, community care, and allyship, ending with a Q & A.

🌟The TRUST Center Communtiy event🌟: This program focuses on allyship. We will discuss the importance of inclusive and affirming school environments and what educators can do, in addition to the importance of non-profit centers and how they can best support the LGBTQIA+ community.

🌟 Sociology and WEST Class Lecture🌟: This program is for students interested in learning more about LGBTQIA+ identities, topics and issues and engaging in effective allyship.

🌟Keynote🌟: “Serving Liberation with Lex Horwitz”: A powerful, thought-provoking conversation with nationally recognized LGBTQIA+ educator and award-winning trans athlete Lex Horwitz, offering an insightful look at navigating sports, challenging misconceptions, and ways to engage in effective allyship.

📍Check out more on my website, www.lexhorwitz.com.

🥳Thanks to all of our community partners and sponsors for making this day happen!

lgbtqia

What does “fairness” mean in sports?

Back in April I had the opportunity to join to speak on their panel, “A More Fair Playing Field: Trans Rights in School and Sports.” 

Trans athletes belong in sports.

Trans athletes are not going anywhere.

I do not know where I’d be, or who I’d be, without my lifetime in athletics spaces. I will never stop fighting for non-binary and transgender athletes. 

‼️ Misinformation and disinformation are driving fear and discrimination of trans athletes, primarily transfeminine people of color. 

🏳️‍⚧️ We must first understand that this is not a “debate” but rather a fight for equal and equitable rights for all transgender people. And that this was never really just about athletics – this is about a trans person’s place in society. 

🏳️‍⚧️ The “debate” is the guise hiding the real goal – remove trans people from our society and culture, using athletics as the gateway. Make no mistake, trans people have, and will always, be here. No law can or will ever change that. We are resilient, strong, and powerful. We aren’t going anywhere.

🎯 In order to understand how to approach the “debate” we must look at the reputable research, dismantling core misconceptions, which are rooted in transmysogynoir (this term was coined by writer Trudy, stemming from Moya Bailey’s term, “misogynoir”).

Transmisogynoir refers to the unique form of oppression faced by Black transfeminine people – it is the intersection of misogyny (prejudice against women), cissexism (prejudice against non-binary and trans people), and anti-Blackness.

📣 Without the understanding of the role and impact of misogyny, cissexism, and racism as systems of oppression that have a long history of harming all athletes (transgender and cisgender folks alike), we can not identify or understand what is actually happening. 

📖🎯I do a deeper dive on trans athletes, how to address and engage in the “debate”, and share best practices for supporting and advocating for non-binary and trans athletes in my workshop “Trans in Athletics: Inclusion & Fairness”, check out my website for more info!

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I love presenting my workshop, “Strategies for Addressing Transphobia and Homophobia in Our Schools” (this one was for ’ “Equity and Belonging in Action” Professional Day of Learning).

During the workshop, I used one of my favorite frameworks, the locus of control. 

🎯 The locus of control framework helps us identify what we can impact so that we stay empowered and can effectively work towards our goals without becoming hopeless (which can happen when we focus our energy and time on pursuing goals and change that are outside of our control).

📣 It is a call to action that empowers individuals to identify themselves as agents of change who have a real, critical impact on those around us (from strangers to family members to the government).

It emphasizes that as individuals we have a personal responsibility to be not only allies, but advocates, accomplice, and co-conspirators. And to do this, we can use an individual and systems-based approach to identify where we should focus our advocacy efforts (more on these approaches in my blog post!).

🚨So what’s the TLDR?
In my work, the locus of control framework is essential. We engage in advocacy from a place of empowerment, preventing burnout by identifying what we can change and focusing our attention and energy on that.

But in order to do that, we must first accept the call to action that we are all individually responsible for our impact on our collective community — we all have a critical role and impact on everyone around us. We can then use the locus of control framework to identify what is within our control to advocate for and fight for change using our individual and systems-based models.

But don’t forget to take care of yourself and your wellbeing as you engage in this critical work — that’s the only way we can sustain this journey.

Check out the full article here: https://substack.com//note/p-177187489?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=3yz4s8

***r

I have an announcement!!! I started a blog/newsletter, and I hope that y’all will check it out and subscribe (link in bio ⬆️) :).

It’s called the Affirmation Station with Lex (swipe to see the logo I made!). It’s an LGBTQIA+ community space where I share my personal experiences, advocacy strategies and tools, resources for community members and our allies, and hopefully, with input from you, even more. (Check it out here! affirmationstationwithlex.substack.com).

Here’s a little piece of the intro article:

Hey, I’m Lex. Right now he/they feels good for me. Maybe you’re asking why I’m here and maybe also why you’re here. I think critically thinking and questioning (most everything) is a great practice so thanks for showing up with that intention. Or maybe you stumbled across this and are curious about what it holds – curiosity can be such a great guiding force so yay! Either way, welcome, I’m glad you’re here. I’ll start with what brings me to you – I’m here because I want to bring love, care, affirmation, and support to as many people as I can, centering non-binary, trans, and gender diverse people. And, frankly, I’ve been feeling a little lost lately. And the saving grace has been my community – my chosen family, my partner (and our kitty), and just knowing that every q***r, non-binary, and trans person out there is existing just as they are and there is unmatched beauty and power in that truth.

So I’m here to cultivate a space for community (and our allies) to come together and share in the glory of our existence – all we have to do is show up. And showing up can be a battle if you feel you are in it all alone. If this space does one thing, I want it to be an example that you are never truly alone. That someone, me, is out there thinking about you and wishing all the good in the world will find its way to you (and it will). That even on days when it feels like everything is weighing or tearing you down, there’s still one person who’s on the sidelines cheering you on (very loudly, maybe even with pomp pomps) and ready for you to reach out if you need a hand to hold (or a person to advocate on your behalf).

Check out the full article for more!!