Today we’d like to introduce you to Riley Sironen. Pronouns: He/They.
Hi Riley, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My story, like all stories, is a combination of many stories. I am autistic and transgender, so my life always seems full of twists, turns, and self-exploration.
I was born and raised in Grand Rapids, MI, and currently reside with my partner in Ypsilanti, MI. Together we run a drag group called Boylesque Michigan, and outside of that work, I pursue my passion in theatre. In 2019, I graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a B.S. in Theatre with a minor in Drama & Theatre for the Young. Now, I am attending EMU to receive my M.A. in Arts Administration.
With all my work, I consciously and subconsciously always revolve my work around advocacy. When I came out as transgender in 2015, I instantly poured that part into my schoolwork. Class projects, shows I wanted to co-direct, roles I wanted to play in productions, work I received through the university, and conversations with peers and faculty in the theatre department. I wanted to not only feel safe in these settings I faced every day, but I wanted others to feel that way without doing the work. Through my position at the LGBT Resource Center, I helped with a project to allow students to enter their pronouns and their chosen name into the university’s enrollment system so professors could see them on the roaster on the first day of class. This allowed students to skip the uncomfortable conversation of coming out to their professors if they did not want to. In our theatre department, I helped create an initiative to make restrooms and dressing rooms genderless so that students could use or change in whatever space they felt most comfortable in. In my final year, I went to classrooms, department-wide faculty meetings, and events and conferences to speak on how to make classroom environments safe and inclusive for transgender students. The part that still feels crazy is that I did all this without hesitation. My passion drove me to come out and finally feel free; I wanted others to feel that way too. (Some of the stepstones to these events can be seen on my YouTube Page – including a project called “Everybody’s a Little Gay: Transitioning in a Changing World” and another called “How Beautiful the Ordinary”.)
As time passed, I felt I had lost that passion for advocacy. And for a minute, I had. Near the end of the previously mentioned timeline, I had a handful of life events happen, and soon, I lost that light to do the work. I still knew the job was important, but I did not want to be the person to do it anymore. Part of it was my mental health (something I discuss in the first episode of a mini-series live stream I created called “Evening Vibes” – also on my YouTube channel), and, as time went on, I did not want to be “the Transgender Guy”; I wanted just to be me. And during this last year, I have gotten to be that. I have mentally reinvented myself and have started to love the person I am becoming. I am finding who I am with my identities, but without them letting control my entire existence.
Being back in school and newly diagnosed as Autistic and ADHD, my passion for creating spaces for others as I go through my growth and new self-discoveries has been fully relit. As I continue researching my topics of interest, I can tell in my searches and note-taking that I will only be growing from where I left off in my work during my undergraduate studies.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This question made me chuckle. You aren’t doing your work right if anything is a smooth road. Either that or you are downright just lucky. One of my favorite things a therapist said to me is, “The first hundred years are the hardest.” and that’s something I remind myself of whenever I am met with a difficulty. Being transgender and autistic in 2022, one would hope that our communities’ daily struggles would be lightened, but some days it feels like we are going backward.
With our rights and freedoms continually on the line, some days being a human in this society is just plain exhausting. Someone like me is always in a state of anxiety, worrying about if today I will be able to use the restroom in peace or when I go out with my partner, will I be able to handle the sensories in that environment without feeling physical pain. Will I get stares today for my outfit or for the fact that I am wearing headphones while having a one-on-one conversation? It’s a daily struggle, but I take it as motivation for my work.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I consider myself a queer entrepreneur. I have a whole tool kit of skills and activities/career paths that I take part in (and part of that is the neurodivergent-indecisiveness in me). I am an advocate for my communities through all the work that I do. While allies are needed and essential, I believe that the loudest advocates need to be those who live in the communities we are fighting for.
Whether I am helping produce a theatre production, DJing at a drag show, performing on stage (in drag or as an actor), helping run my partner’s social media sites, giving a talk on transgender inclusivity, or simply working my daytime job, I am always looking for ways to make the environment I am in more inclusive and welcoming.
We all have different ways of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Simple. Being happy with you work you do or have done. If you are happy and proud of yourself, nothing else matters.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rileyjaysironen.com
- Instagram: @__riley_jay__
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rileysironen
- Twitter: @__riley_jay__
- Youtube: http://youtube.com/c/rileysironen
