Earlier this year, U of T’s Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies honoured a retired U.S. Army officer who has become a champion for trans rights and scholarship.
Lt.-Col. Jennifer Pritzker, a billionaire investor and philanthropist, came out as trans three years ago. Since then, she has financially supported trans research at the University of Victoria and the Palm Center, a think tank at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Bonham Centre recognized Pritzker at its annual awards gala, held in April at the Great Hall in Hart House.
Pritzker has also made a donation to U of T – to endow a new third-year trans course at the Bonham Centre, which will complement an existing fourth-year seminar. She says she hopes her investment in higher education will lead to “less fear and apprehension of trans people” and greater inclusion.
Pritzker doesn’t see herself as a trailblazer for either her high-profile transition from male to female or for championing trans research, but rather “as someone who occasionally sees the necessity and opportunity to take a few steps out of the box.”
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