My topic is gender identity acceptance. I care about this because there are too many LGBT+ people who do not get treated as equals when they should. In a 2018 survey, 34% of self-identified LGBTQ+ respondents reported that they were bullied on school grounds. 10% were threatened or injured with a weapon on school grounds.

The parts of my arpillera that show this are the grey areas which represent the darkness that LGBT+ youth experience. These dark areas silently explain the bullying and harassment. Trans youth show a higher chance of suicide than do cisgendered youth, cisgendered meaning someone who identifies as their birthsex. That darkness shows that not everything is perfect.

The key design elements of my arpillera are the Gender-Fluid, Transgender, and Non-Binary flags. This is because those are three gender identities that people have a hard time understanding and/or accepting as “real.” Gender-Fluid is when a person's gender identity changes day-to-day or during a span of time, such as male to female back to male. A person who is Gender-Fluid can also identify as both male and female, or as neither. Non-Binary is when a person does not identify as male or female and feels like neither label applies to them. People who identify as Non-Binary often use They/Them pronouns. There are some people who identify as Non-Binary who still use male or female pronouns alongside They/Them pronouns. Being Transgender is when a person does not identify as the gender they were born into. An example of this is, if someone born female identifies as male later in their life, or vice versa.

The different physical elements in my arpillera are critical because they bring attention to those lesser-known gender identities. Not all people know that there is more than Male and Female. Some people are taught that the only options are male or female, but that is far from true. You could spend hours finding different gender identities. People should not be limited to a black and white perspective on anything, especially gender. Gender is like an atom, there are near infinite possibilities and combinations. Putting a limit to gender is like trying to limit what a person can think. This is impossible.

My arpillera is connected with arpillera #11 because of how certain mental health issues like depression and panic attacks are common for those who do not identify as cisgender in our society, for multiple reasons. These health issues come along with potential suicide. A 2020 study showed that 40% of people who responded had seriously considered suicide. Transgender people who want surgery should have it provided to them by the government as a human right. It also connects with arpillera #6 because the way LGBT+ people act in real life is often different than the way they act online. Some act more open about who they are online because they know there are accepting people online. On the other side, LGBT+ people can act more closed off in real life because they are scared that they won’t be accepted, so they pretend to be someone they are not.