InsideBayArea.com – By Kristofer Noceda, Staff Writer
Mom of slain transgender teen speaks at Queerfest
Hayward – Embrace and learn from each other.
That’s the message Sylvia Guerrero, mother of slain Newark transgender teen Gwen Araujo, emphasized to students and faculty during her visit Tuesday to California State University, East Bay.
“We are all different and we can take our experiences to do better things,” Guerrero said. “Everyone should feel comfortable and proud of who they are.”
Guerrero, an advocate for transgender equality, was invited by officials to the university’s second annual Queerfest ? a weeklong celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community ? to speak about losing her daughter and dealing with the courts.
“This was important not only to the university, but to the greater Bay Area because too often the ‘T’ in ‘LBGTQ’ is cut out,” said Heather Thompson, president of the university’s Queer Straight Alliance. “Hopefully events like these will help people come out on campus and feel safe in their own space.”