The So Gender Project
Hello
My name is Riley Horvath and I'm a nonbinary undergraduate student at Hofstra University. I study political science and history, and focus most of my research on the impact of queer voices throughout history and within US politics. I created this website as my public history project for one of my classes, and I intend to keep it running in an effort to making gender history more accessible by providing publicly accessible resources and a place for community input.
My Story
Growing up I lived in a household that did not support the LGBTQ+ community. Prior to the pandemic in 2020 and my ability to finally access some forms of social media, I hadn't even heard of the ability to be nonbinary before. I grew up as a dancer and I thought the way I felt about my body and appearance was solely because I was bigger than the people I danced next to. I didn't know that, while this was party true, I was also experiencing gender dysphoria. I was never close with anyone within my studio, it wasn't that I didn't want to be like them, but my motives to be like them were different, I wanted to be like them so I'd be included. I didn't have a natural attraction to their interests, and because of this, I felt I was wrong, and like I would be required to work harder in order to be "normal". Meeting and building a community of people who have helped me slowly realize what my true interests and passions are has been monumental in my journey to becoming the person I had been suppressed for so long. I've used social media, as well as joining my college's rugby team to meet people and create my own support system. I want to make the research I had to do easier for anyone else who has to start from scratch in the future. There were so many and still are so many niche topics and interests that pertain to the gender nonconforming community, and if you don't know where to look, the void of unknown just grows larger and becomes so overwhelming. I want this space to act as a guide, and to motivate self education in a world that is becoming increasingly more restricted.