Rutgers promotes 'Transgender Man' who 'Helps Transgender Women Find Their Voices'

Just one day prior to the start of Pride Month, Rutgers University published a featured story on the work of graduate student AJ Quiray, a woman who identifies as a “transgender man,” and offers “gender-affirming voice and communication therapy.”

“I recognized then my privilege as a male whose voice changed naturally with testosterone,” said the speech-language pathology student upon “working with transgender women to align their voice with their gender.”

[RELATED: ‘Voice has no gender’: University speech clinic offers ‘gender affirming voice care’]

Enrolled in the Rutgers School of Health Professions, Quiray told Rutgers Today that her work with other transgender-identifying people provided her with “a sense of responsibility to the LGBTQ+ community.”

According to the publication, Quiray is one of various students from the newly created Rutgers Speech-Language Pathology program that “work in the free clinic to provide speech-language therapy to underserved populations.”

Quiray informed Rutgers Today that she is worried about the future of “gender-affirming care,” however, due to unspecified laws that allegedly harm people that say they are transgender.

“As a health professional, I can play a small role in making sure the government understands that people need care,” she stated. “For trans women, having a female voice makes a world of difference in terms of their safety and quality of life.” 

[RELATED: Students get Gender Diversity residential area, other transgender services]

Rutgers Today noted that Quiray decided to attend the university after noticing the program’s emphasis on “serving multi-ethnic and socially diverse populations,” and how its staff included “several faculty of color.”

“As a person of color and queer, I found that welcoming,” Quiray admitted.

The student was even able to collaborate with a program professor to provide a presentation to Rutgers faculty in which they reportedly said, “Be prepared to have a queer person in your classroom. We exist, we are there and whether or not you can tell, it’s not their responsibility to tell you. But your language has to be inclusive.”

Rutgers Today acknowledged that Quiray “buried her desire to be a male” by “joining a church youth group and becoming active in conservative causes” when she was younger. 

Quiray has since been given the opportunity to attend various conferences and received a speech-language pathology award for her leadership and service.

“I decided to apply for everything I saw,” she stated. “When they say they are looking for minority student leadership, I felt like ‘I’m going to show you how many minorities I’m part of.’” 

Quiray also attended a national conference on “ableism.”

Rutgers Today concluded the piece by noting Quiray’s academic advisor expresses confidence that the student “will continue to push for diversity, equity and inclusion in health care – the tenets that form the basis of Rutgers’ speech-language pathology program.”

Campus Reform contacted all relevant entities for comment. This article will be updated accordingly. 

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