Reposted by J Wortham
Columbia's Mohsen Mahdawi, fresh out of U.S. detention, walks the graduation stage gothamist.com/news/columbias-mohsen…
gothamist.com
Columbia's Mohsen Mahdawi, fresh out of U.S. detention, walks the graduation stage
Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, 34, participated in graduation ceremonies Monday for the School of General Studies at Columbia University in Manhattan.
He spent more than two weeks in federal detention before a federal judge ordered his release. [ more › ]
![A white square with black text reading, “I remember in a recent interview you spoke about your support of the trans community, because you said: "I see that transgender youngsters are the ones who are helping to take planet Earth into the galaxy because we're going to run into other life forms that our gender does not matter." Can you speak about that a bit?
I think the transgender kids are the bravest kids right now that we see; they're as brave as my generation was in breaking down segregation. They're breaking down
—I don't have the word for it right now-but it's gender prejudice, and [the idea that] somebody has decided that they can tell you who you are, what your name should be, and how you should look.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wh3pv4fvnxycxhglk6x4ief5/bafkreieq7oulanbcr6xlcc2erzqplov5g7n2wpsk5pnw6i2sth7q5jyrwa)
![A white square with black text reading, “But when we go into the galaxy, a life-form may say,
"Who are you?" Well, there's no point in talking to another life-form and [saying] "I'm a boy or a girl," because it may have no meaning. That may mean nothing to them. So what you're going to say is, "I am a life form from the third planet, from the yellow sun," therefore giving yourself an identity. You don't have an identity because you say, "I'm a boy, I'm a girl, I'm a Jew or Gentile, I'm a Catholic or Baptist." That doesn't mean anything once you get beyond the prejudices of Earth.
So yeah, I think the transgender students are really brave because they're taking a lot of flack for just wanting to be themselves and to have the right to have their own name. I think that's incredibly brave, and I
think that they're absolutely right to want to do that.
To want to own themselves.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wh3pv4fvnxycxhglk6x4ief5/bafkreifkk2cersgiekwhqwonhhn62py7ddayi4rlmtxtwxth3eagmqkfri)
