In the Agora outside of Parks Library, transgender, non-binary and gender nonconforming students told their stories to a group of attendees Thursday.

Surrounded by 150 trans flags, four students spoke about their experiences.

“This is the day we show cisgender Iowa Staters that we exist and that we are more common than they think,” said Olly Manning, a senior in music.

During their speech, Manning talked about how Iowa State needs to increase the number of gender-neutral bathrooms on campus and make them easily accessible as well as use inclusive language and include trans history in more classes.

Manning also discussed choir, a program they are no longer part of due to the gender divide in uniforms, vocal assignments and language. Manning went on to talk about how they want to start a choir where this gender divide doesn’t exist.

“I want to start a safe space for trans singing voices,” Manning said.

Trinity Dearborn, a junior in women’s and gender studies and the vice president of Pride Alliance and Asexual Aromantic Alliance, sat on the steps of Parks Library draped in the agender flag and talked about how when they came to Iowa State it was the first time they met other agender individuals and was really the first place they felt that they weren’t alone.

“I just wanted to be happy today because when we talk about issues in our community it can be very hard to be hopeful and look toward new things,” Dearborn said.

Dearborn did bring up things that need to be solved at Iowa State, such as the hard-to-find gender neutral bathrooms and the constant misgendering of transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming students experience by instructors.

“It was hard but worth it because I got to be my identity,” said Shay Eddi Weimer, a sophomore in history, when talking about their past.

Weimer discussed the gun violence, threats, harassment, abuse and several forms of assault they faced when living in Kansas City, Missouri as a transgender agender boy that made them move away.

Weimer said that at Iowa State they have some of the best people in the world who are also trans and get to do amazing work such as planning this event, ISU Trans Narratives: Trans Voices, Visibility and Art.

They also brought up issues that need to be addressed, such as increasing the gender options on forms, making pronouns available to instructors before the start of courses and increasing the number of gender-neutral bathrooms.

“I want to go to a school where my friends and I don’t bond over the dangerous situations we’re put in but instead just be happy with our life,” Weimer said.

Brad Freihoefer, director of the Center for LGBTQIA+ Student Success, closed out the event by inviting attendees to Parks 198, where a gallery walk of student art from transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming students was set up with reflection questions for individuals within the transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming community.

“It is a really brave and courageous act to speak about identity and I am really proud of the group for being open and vulnerable in such a public venue,” Freihoefer said.