SJ observes Trans Awareness week
By Charity Spicer STAFF WRITER
In the midst of hatred and criticism from society, the LGBTQIA+ community in San José recognized Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Day of Remembrance to honor the lives lived by transgender individuals and celebrate their joy.
Transgender Awareness Week starts a week before Transgender Day of Remembrance, taking place from Nov. 13-19.
This nationally recognized period of time aims at advocating for the transgender community and educating the public on who they are and what they face, according to GLAAD.
San José State’s PRIDE Center kicked off its “2024 Trans, Non-binary, and Gender Expansive Resilience Workshop Series” this past Sunday which featured healing, empowerment and community support presentations in the Student Union ballroom.
The event was in partnership with Silicon Valley Pride and Santa Clara County LGBTQ Affairs, which served as a platform for panelists to talk about the pros and cons of labels as well as navigating challenges that the transgender community faces, according to its Instagram.
Denise Christy, a fourth-year management information systems student, identifies as a transgender woman and hosted a counter-event during Turning Point USA’s
A vigil for transgender people who died in America
event on Nov. 13.
“In 2015, that was the first time I saw a trans woman who actually looked like what I wanted to look like. I didn't know it was even possible,” Christy said. “Her existence was enough to motivate me to transition.
But, unfortunately, she took her own life a few years ago
At SJSU, trans students have faced people questioning their existence and perceiving them as a threat to children and the
general population in America as seen with recent events from Turning Point USA’s SJSU chapter, according to its Instagram.
On Nov. 13, the first day of Transgender Awareness Week, the Turning Point USA chapter at SJSU hosted an event titled “The Trans Deception” with Chloe Cole, an advocate against transitioning and gender-affirming care, as advertised on its Instagram account.
As an honors student spokesperson for the busi-
A podium presented at Transgender Awareness week shows
the nationally accepted day.
ness department at SJSU, Christy said she took offense to the organization advertising the event within her building.
“I talked a lot with the faculty of women, gender and sexuality studies, and we agreed that the best course of action was don't protest their events, don't even acknowledge it, just host another event at the same time,” she said.
Christy said the event had a successful turnout of around 50 people and focused on celebrating trans positivity and joy.
“I transitioned nine years ago. Back then, everything was different. And I knew about my dysphoria before that point,” Christy said. “But the problem is that there was no good or positive representation. Even the supposed positive representation were painting trans people almost like pity cases that are living a doomed life.”
In 2023, approximately 320 trans people were killed, and 94% of those killed were trans women or trans feminine people, according to The Trans Murder Monitoring report in a Nov. 13, 2023 article from Forbes.
The Santa Clara County Office of LGBTQ Affairs hosted a Trans Day of Remembrance ceremony in The Chapel, in The Alameda district of San José on Nov. 20 which honored
30 transgender lives lost in 2024.
Attendees of the vigil said the names of the individuals who died and laid a flower for each life lost.
They also described each person’s background and story while listeners shed tears and honored in somber silence.
Sera Fernando, a transgender queer Filipina who is an alumna of SJSU, organized the event and said words in memory of the lost lives, while attendees provided flowers on an altar and listened in solemnity.
“During Transgender Day of Remembrance, we take our time to say people's names, those who passed from anti-trans bias,” Fernando said. “Despite the fact that the numbers have gone down since 2021, where we've seen up to 60 trans deaths just here in the nation, seeing it at around 30.”
Out of the deaths reported in the United States and beyond, many of transgender deaths are not included in that data because of misgendering and those who were not publicly out, according to a web page from the National Library of Medicine.
Crystal Haney, a community worker at Queer Silicon Valley, expressed the importance of gathering as a community to remember trans lives.
Queer Silicon Valley is an organization by the BAYMEC Community Foundation supporting the community, amplifying leaders and documenting history of the LGBTQ+ community from Santa Clara County, according to its website.
“For us to come together as a community for over 25 years, because this is the 25th year of Transgender Day of Remembrance, it takes a lot and it shows,” Haney said. “ It shows how strong we are as a community to keep coming back year after year, seeing the amazing people, the shining stars in our community that are no longer sparkling.”
Jimena Ramirez, an immigrant born and raised in Mexico, moved to San José 10 years ago and works directly with the trans community to host events that highlight their pride.
Ramirez read a speech written in Spanish that was translated into English by Daniela Villalobos, a transgender Latina from Los Angeles.
“Each name represents a story, a struggle, a dream that, cut short, will never be forgotten. It is a day to migrate to the past with respect, and to the future with determination,” Ramirez said.
Protest claims genocide is bipartisan
By Jackson Lindstrom STAFF WRITER
A crowd of students clamored in chants of protest against President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda for the conflict between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday at Paseo de San Antonio near San José State.
Student protesters participating started the protest by chanting “Fuck Trump” at Philz Coffee, then proceeding to march through campus to the SJSU Career Center, shouting a myriad of other chants.
After arriving at the center, the crowd gathered to hear other student protesters’ speeches.
John Duroyan, president of the SJSU’s chapter of Students for Democratic Society and a history graduate student, said Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss was embarrassing.
“You lost the election like idiots and brought the genocide like assholes,” Duroyan said. “We are faced with another four years of Trump, another four years of reactionary policies. Shame. Another four years of institutionalized racism and bigotry backed by the full weight of a violent police state.”
Approximately 70% of all likely voters strongly or somewhat supported a permanent ceasefire and de-escalation of the conflict according to a May 8, Data for Progress poll.
The conflict started last year on Oct. 7 when Palestinian nationalist group Hamas attacked Israel and killed over 1,200 people, according to an Oct. 7, 2023 U.S. Department of State press briefing.
Despite a majority of voters supporting a ceasefire, Donald Trump has not yet called for a ceasefire, but has expressed
wishes for the conflict to end in an April 4, interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
It was reported at least 41,802 Palestinians had been killed since Oct. 7, according to an Oct. 4, 2024 update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“We will act as we have with the cowardly Democrats, (who) backed the genocide shamelessly the previous year,” Duroyan said. “We will act as we acted when the first Black Lives Matter uprising swept the nation and revealed the full extent of institutionalized racism and the depraved cruelty of a police state back during Trump's first term.”
Only 21% of Democrats said they opposed a ceasefire in a Data for Progress poll.
Despite the small number of Democrats
who oppose it, the conflict remains ongoing as the Biden administration has not been able to negotiate for a ceasefire with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
that the mask ban is meant to target protesters, but may have a harmful impact on students who need to wear a mask for health or medical reasons.
Kaly Blackwell, a
We will act as we have with cowardly Democrats (who) backed the genocide shamelessly the previous year.
John Duroyan
SJSU’s Chapter of Students for a Democratic Society
Some campuses in California have introduced mask bans to prevent students from hiding their identity, according to a Sept. 1 Disability Rights California web page.
The same web page says
second-year animation and illustration student, spoke on behalf of Mask Bloc San José, a club that distributes masks and COVID-19 tests.
“California, New York and North Carolina have all called for mask bans this year in hopes of policing dissent for (freeing) Palestine,” Blackwell said. “In other words, a multi-purpose tool used to mitigate disease has been minimized into a single use scenario and is in threat of policing by law.”
The California State University’s Time, Place and Manner policy, is a policy that says campuses have a right to regulate when, where and how free speech can be expressed so it does not disrupt student learning or a campus’s safety, according to the CSU website.
Simone Atendido, a fourth-year child and adolescent student, feels the California State University’s (CSU) policy is not defending students’ rights to free speech.
“We have been exploited and taken advantage of for the sake of maximum profit for decades. We are tired!” Atendido said. “As students and as student activists, we have already (had) restrictions on our right to speak about these ongoing issues through restrictions such as the CSU Time, Place and Manner policy.”
SJSU fully implemented the Time, Place and Manner policy on Aug. 16, 2024, according to its respective SJSU web page.
Robin McMahon, a sixth-year history student, said it was important to get as many people to protest as possible.
“When we are marching, we are doing the work of gathering attention, but it is not enough simply to gather attention,” McMahon said. “If you can make this world something that doesn't need violence, then people will come and join if they see that it is something stable and safe.”
Students for a Democratic Society has said that the Israel-Palestine conflict has been made worse by both Democrats and Republicans, according to a Students for a Democratic Society Nov. 6 Instagram post.
“The system is completely fine with us dying on the fringes. With our suffering, with our precarity,” McMahon said. “It is up to us to reach out and convince other people that it does not have to be that way for the system to exist. That we can rebuild it, remake it, and reclaim it into something that lets us live.”
4 3 2
#1: Psychology third-year Kyle Jonke takes off headphones to concentrate on delicately forming an orange clay animal.
#2: Hibaq Shaie and Yaqub Dayib show off their respective purple and pink clay sculpting creations while MOSAIC operations continue on Thursday afternoon in the Student Union.
#3: Standing in the main area of the cultural center, Gladis Caldera chats with friends white molding a glob of blue clay.
#4: University of California Berkeley second-year student Hafsa Muriidi shapes a piece of small, white clay.
ANALYSIS
MOSAIC molds miniature clay Dreamworks dragons fly into live-action
By Anfisa Pitchkhadze STAFF WRITER
Universal Pictures is remaking the DreamWorks Animation beloved 2010 animated film, “How to Train Your Dragon” into a live-action adaptation.
The writer and director of the “How to Train Your Dragon” trilogy, Dean DeBlois is returning to direct the live-action film as a shot-for-shot remake based on the 2010 animated film, according to a November 19, Hollywood Reporter article.
“How to Train Your Dragon” is yet another favorite childhood animated film of mine that needs to remain untouched and is not necessarily to be remade.
As I grew up watching the films, I fell in love with every moment of them and they had me feeling all types of emotions.
With DeBlois taking the directorial role, there is excitement for fans to look forward to.
Like the original film, the live-action will follow the journey of awkward teen Viking Hiccup through his controversial views on dragons. The animated films take place on an isolated island called the Isle of Berk where Vikings kill dragons for their culture.
according to the Northern Ireland Screen site.
However, it also caught my eye how stunning and life-like the dragons are. The computer-generated imagery was gorgeous as it brought the magical designs of Toothless to real life.
To make Toothless' design more realistic, the computer generated images gave his appearance a rough, patchy look compared to his smooth, shiny look in the animation.
The lovable, giant dragon seems to be simultaneously friendly and creepy, seeing how realistic he turned out to look.
The two species have a long-standing feud due to the dragons attacking the island’s villages. However, Hiccup later befriends a dragon named Toothless and develops a perception that dragons and humans live together in harmony.
He’s not only a good actor for the role, but his physical features mirror that of his Hiccup counterpart.
Berk, and will reprise his role, according to a Vulture article.
coat and long green shirt
Hiccup wore in the first film hasn’t been altered one bit.
The role of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is set to be played by Mason Thames, according to the same Hollywood Reporter article. An official teaser trailer of the adaptation was released this past week on Tuesday, Nov. 19 for audiences to get a glimpse of how the animation will be translated to life, according to an November 19, NBC article. The live-action is expected to be a huge role for Thames who is starring as the main role. Thames as Hiccup is the perfect actor to play the part.
Thames overall has a similar appearance to Hiccup from the hair and facial structure.
It’s even mind boggling how he sounds like the character, and it’s a thrill to see the best match of Hiccup to be featured.
It will be compelling to see Thames’ performance of the character Hiccup hit theaters.
I’m cheering for the young actor to have a breakout role and make a name for himself.
Besides Thames, Gerard Butler was featured in the short portion of the trailer.
Butler voiced Stoick the Vast, the father of Hiccup and chief of the Isle of
Butler’s decision to return was shocking, but I also do not imagine anyone else capable of being cast as a live-action Stoick.
He did a phenomenal job voicing during his tenure working on the franchise, so his return feels like a pinch of nostalgia for audiences who grew up watching the original films.
DeBlois made the smart call to add Thames and have Butler back as both can carry the franchise to new heights in different ways.
Both of the actors also have well-done costume designs that match exactly to the animated characters.
For example, the fur
The trailer gave me flashbacks to the first time I watched the animated version.
Besides Thames and Butler making appearances in the trailer, I was stunned to see how phenomenal the visual effects turned out.
The crashing waves of the ocean, the scenic landscape of the green, rocky hills and cloudy forests makes the world of “How to Train Your Dragon” vibrant.
The different aspects of the settings shown in the teaser so far resonate with the animated settings.
The main filming location of the upcoming adaptation took place in Northern Ireland,
However, the teaser leaves fans such as myself questioning the need for an adaptation. The touching scenes and wonderful characters made the films memorable, and I sense that the liveaction may capture that strong emotional essence. Time will keep on ticking and millions of anxious fans like me await the film release on June 13, 2025, according to a People article. So far from the teaser, the film remains flawless, but even still I am setting the bar low on the first live-action version of a DreamWorks movie release.
‘Die Hard’ is my die-hard
Hunter Yates STAFF WRITER
Every holiday season there seems to be a traditional war of words about whether or not
“Die Hard” is a Christmas movie.
“Die Hard” is an action movie that takes place on Christmas Eve, focusing on New York police officer
John McClane played by Bruce Willis.
He visits Los Angeles to visit his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) and children John ‘Jack’ Jr (Noah Land) and Lucy (Taylor Fry).
McClane joins Holly for a Christmas party at the fictional Nakatomi plaza where she works.
Soon after joining the party, the building is taken over by international terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) who wants to steal the company’s $640 million bonds.
The terrorists lock down the building, holding plenty of hostages inside including McClane’s wife. McClane realizes he is the only one who can save the hostages.
McClane also wrote in red permanent marker on his chest “Now I have a machine gun ho-ho-ho” to intimidate the other terrorists.
This is why McClane is just as jolly as Santa Claus. In pop culture, the “Die Hard Christmas movie” discussion has been popularized through debate and reintroduced through shows such as “Friends” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”, according to a Screen Rant article.
I understand that people may think it is ridiculous to try and argue about whether an action movie can be a Christmas movie too.
The movie was released in July 1988 during this
Throughout the movie, McClane injects humor regarding Christmas such as getting into a scuffle with one of the terrorists and putting a Santa hat on his lifeless corpse.
time of year movie studios have historically released action films, such as the “Indiana Jones” and “Jurassic Park” series.
Some fans credit threetime Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg with the summer blockbuster trend, according to a Screen Rant article.
Over the years, movie studios have tried to produce Christmas movies with a twist that fall under the sub-genre of an action movie with Christmas themes such as “The Long Kiss Goodnight” and “Silent Night.”
This year, the action movie with Christmas themes is “Red One” starring popular actionmovie actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a movie
that has some similarities to “Die Hard.”
During Christmas time, there are constant debates: what time to open presents, what type of wrapping paper to use and most importantly “Is ‘Die Hard’ a Christmas movie?”
One of my lifelong friends and I have agreed on most things throughout our lives, and we usually find a way to compromise and get along.
But for some reason, the one argument we will gladly die hard on is whether or not “Die Hard” can be enjoyed during the holidays.
I like “Die Hard” as a Christmas movie because it gives us all a chance to feel connected to the holiday through subtle themes.
At the same time, you’re able to watch a character walk on broken glass barefoot while killing international terrorists to try bring his family back together.
This debate has been prevalent for decades. Just like the fandom, even lead actor Bruce Willis and writer Steven E. de Souza seem to disagree on if “Die Hard” is a holiday film, according to a Digital Spy article.
De Souza’s main point of justifying that “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie is how throughout the whole movie there are themes that maintain the holiday spirit including the setting of an office Christmas party, according to the same Digital Spy article.
He defended his argument with a direct comparison to the 1953 film “White Christmas,” pleading that there are more Christmas song scenes and less deaths in "Die Hard.”
“It’s not a Christmas movie,” said Willis at The Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis in 2018, “It's a goddamn Bruce Willis movie!”
Although the debate about “Die Hard” being a Christmas movie can be taken as a joke started by the fandom, I think it provides a great excuse to watch an action movie during the holiday season.
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