Erin Reed and Zooey Zephyr speak in Hillman Hall last Thursday. (Photo courtesy of Sid Hastings)

Transgender rights activists and fiancées, Erin Reed and Zooey Zephyr, spoke to around 200 WashU students and visitors on Thursday, Nov 7. They discussed their relationship, the state of transgender rights in America, how transgender rights are connected to other social issues, and how to find hope in dark times. 

Zephyr is a Montana State Representative who garnered national attention last year when she was censured by the Montana State Legislature after speaking forcefully against a bill that banned gender-affirming care for minors. Erin Reed is a journalist and activist who runs a substack, titled Erin In The Morning, about transgender legislation and her life as a transgender woman, as well as a TikTok account with nearly 500,000 followers. 

The two spoke in Hillman Hall as part of the annual Masters and Johnson lecture, which honors the late WashU researchers who were pioneers in the field of human sexuality. The talk was hosted by the Brown School as part of the WashU Assembly Series and moderated by Paz Galupo, the Audre Lorde Distinguished Professor of Sexual Health & Education. 

Notably, Erin Reed has publicly critiqued Jamie Reed (no relation), a former case manager at the Washington University Transgender Center (WUTC). Jamie Reed started a national controversy in 2023 when she publicly alleged that WUTC was providing gender-affirming healthcare to minors without proper consideration of their complex mental issues, in some cases, resulting in lasting harmful side effects. 

In response, WashU launched an investigation that concluded Jamie Reed’s allegations were “unsubstantiated.” However, Missouri’s attorney general also launched an independent investigation, and the New York Times looked into the validity of Jamie Reed’s claims. Missouri has since banned gender-affirming care for minors, which forced WUTC to stop providing such care. 

In light of laws like the one passed in Missouri, Zephyr argued that banning transgender care is a stepping stone to removing healthcare in other places. 

“In North Carolina in 2016, they said, ‘Where can we get a foot in the door?’ And they targeted trans athletes,” Zephyr said. “They are trying to prime you to accept that it is okay for the government to withhold access to health care for a particular population, whether that is trans people, whether that is inmates.” 

Erin Reed felt similarly that allowing such laws is a slippery slope.

“People are going to try to convince you, in the coming weeks, months, years, to take a little bit of discrimination … just a little bit, you’ll be okay,” she said. “[But] discrimination is a cancer, and you have to treat it early, because if you don’t, it grows.”

Both Erin Reed and Zephyr have spent their careers fighting against laws targeting transgender people, even if they often pass anyway. Last Thursday, the couple spoke about how they find hope in the face of opposition and setbacks. 

For Erin Reed, it came from looking at progress made over the long term. 

“I first realized I was trans in 1999. I was a 12-year-old living in South Louisiana in the swamps. It was an impossible time to come out as trans,” Erin Reed said. 

She also spoke about how, despite progress made on gay rights in the early 2000s, there was swift backlash. 

“Twenty-seven states passed constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. We could have stopped there and lost all hope. Some people likely did, but I didn’t,” Erin Reed said. “Fights for progress always come with dips in the road and turns and hope coming out of unexpected places.” 

Zephyr said she found hope by traveling the country and seeing the work being done on behalf of transgender rights. 

“I have been to Nebraska and Idaho and God knows where all over across this country. And you see people [in] every single space fighting for one another,” she said. 

Zephyr also talked about the need to take a stand when the moment called for it. 

“As important as it is to have hope, I think it is also important to stand and be a bulwark against hate,” she said. “In the moment of crisis right now, I will be unbreakable, and that will be sufficient.”

Zephyr spoke about how the couple’s love story as two transgender women was deeply intertwined with their work as transgender activists, noting she met Erin Reed while doing advocacy work in Texas.

Erin Reed told a story about how the engagement ring Zephyr ordered arrived the same day she was censured by the Montana House of Representatives.

“[She] was kicked off the House floor, [and] she had gone through the hardest thing she had ever gone through, and that same day, she got her ring in,” Erin Reed said. 

Erin Reed felt being together made the couple better at their work. 

“We get to talk to each other, and she makes me a better person. I like to think that I do the same, and she makes me better able to talk about the things that I care about,” Erin Reed said.

Zephyr spoke about how the couple helps each other deal with daily frustrations.

“And then also, when we turn around at the end of the night and can exhale, we’re also able to lift each other up and make sure we are refueled and refreshed,” Zephyr said. 

Among the many WashU students at the talk on Thursday, some chose to attend because they read Erin Reed’s substack. One such student was sophomore Ethan Yamada. 

 “I read Erin In The Morning, [and it’s] really interesting reporting … [for] things that affect the trans community [and] queer community,” Yamada said. “Her and Representative Zephyr, the fight they do … it’s really inspirational.” 

First-year graduate student Arianna Varela hoped to find community at the event.

 “I was very anxious hearing about the election results, and I wanted to feel something hopeful, and I wanted to just be surrounded by people who have similar values to me,” Varela said. “As someone who is married to a trans person … it was really beautiful to watch.” 

When asked what their advice to WashU students would be, Erin Reed referenced Missouri’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. 

“I saw as those bans happened here. I reported live on them. I saw lots of WashU students come and speak in favor of transgender people … Not a single one showed up to hate trans people.” Erin Reed said. “Talk about what gives us hope; that is something that gives us hope.”