Three black trans people spoke on issues of racial and trans representation in the media industry and social justice spaces at a PLUS: People Like Us and Student Union-hosted panel Tuesday.

The panel, funded as part of Student Union’s Trending Topics series, featured actress and singer Mya Taylor, poet and educator J Mase III and comedian and radio show host Katrina Goodlett and was moderated by sophomore Emi Wyland.

Panelists Katrina Goodlett (left), J Mase III and Mya Taylor answer questions during a panel. The panel was sponsored by PLUS: People Like US and Student Union as part of Trending Topics.

J Mase III addressed issues of pay inequality for people of color involved in the media industry, noting that white, cis entertainers are paid more for speaking engagements.

“I know y’all have these cis, white actors and actresses at your campus in this past year, and I know how much you paid them,” he said. “There’s ways to have this conversation [about how pay rates are unfair] with people who don’t necessarily know what they’re doing is messed up, with the income they’re offering, and then there’s also people who consistently do that.”

Goodlett noted that while violence against black and trans people has been featured more in the media following the election of President Donald Trump in November, trans people have been fighting for equality for much longer.

“Despite this being the current climate of political unrestness going on, black trans people have been fighting for—how long? Under Obama, under Bush, under Reagan. For me, we can’t get caught up in who’s the figure head; we’ve been fighting for a long time, and so it doesn’t matter who’s in the office,” she said.

J Mase III added that media coverage is not objective and said that objectivity is primarily created by white, cis people.

“I think one thing that is assumed, especially in white, cis run media, is that people get to be objective. There is no such thing as objectivity; that is a myth that is perpetuated by institutions that like to leave certain people out,” he said.

Taylor, who received critical acclaim for her work in the indie film “Tangerine,” has two projects currently in the works and noted that she has been making an effort to play characters who are not trans individuals.

Attendees of the event thought the panel offered a platform on which trans people of color could speak openly.

“I enjoyed that there was an opportunity for queer transgender people, especially those who are promulgated in the media to have a voice,” freshman Gabby Jung said. “And I appreciate that there was an honesty there.”

“It was kind of initiated by the students here, but just allowing black trans folks to come out and speak on a platform was really awesome. When J Mase was talking about having the institution allocate its resources like that—that’s something that has to be done because I’ve been going to panels like this last semester and this semester,” freshman Erica Wei added.

Wyland said that they felt the event was successful and enjoyed hearing about the varied perspectives of the three speakers.

“I think it was really great; all the speakers had such different perspectives in media but still had a lot to say about being black and trans and those experiences,” Wyland said. “So, I think they did a really great job bringing that to the panel.”

Additional reporting by Maddie Wilson.