Blue Strom, who described herself as being in gender limbo\ but identifies mostly as a gay man, spoke Tuesday as part of the LGBT Campus Center's Out and About Month series.
Strom discussed various struggles she has faced throughout her multiple gender transitions from lesbian to transgender male and back to female.
Strom first came out as bisexual when she was 17, but married a man and had a child with him. After splitting with her husband she came out again as a lesbian and then began her transition as a male transvestite, which, for her, included breast reduction and testosterone injections.
""In many ways, my life has been a big social gender experiment from childhood to young adulthood,"" Strom said. ""It's not always been about being trans, but it's always had to do with my complicated composite of gender and my desire to express how I feel inside.""
Although Strom said in general her family and friends are supportive, she described some difficulties she has faced due to her lifelong struggle with gender identity. Her brother-in-law would not allow his children to attend Strom's wedding to her life partner, Skye, who fully transitioned from female to male, and she faced criticism concerning the parenting of her son.
Strom also said she often faces scrutiny from her conservative neighbors and other members of the community.
""Our world tries to fit us all into a box of either male or female, leaving little room for variation or creativity. Society seems to be unable to separate a person's sex from a person's gender which can be two very different things,"" she said. ""People get stuck on what sex I am or what to call me because I look androgynous.""
Strom said gender stereotypes exist even in the LGBT community. She said when she changed her mind, she feared her friends and other members of the transgender community would view her as inconsistent or sporadic.
Emily Sturm, a UW-Madison junior who attended the lecture, said it is important to discuss issues of gender.
""There's not a lot of programs about what it means to be male or what it means to be female and I think it's really great to have things like this available in a safe venue for it to be talked about,"" she said.
Strom acknowledges that gender will always be an issue for her.
""There will never be a time where others will see me as I see myself.""\
