How Storytelling is a Powerful Form of Advocacy with Rebecca Kling ’07

It's empowering to tell your story, but even more so to empower others to share their own. As a student in Performance Studies at Northwestern and throughout her time at Piven Theatre Workshop, Rebecca Kling ’07 gathered the tools of performance: movement, storytelling, adaption, audience, lighting. After graduation while in Tim Miller's paradigm shifting workshop at Link's Hall, "Charged Bodies", Kling understood how those tools could be applied internally: sharing her own personal narrative of transition and how she navigates the world as a trans-woman. She describes how at the time, she was the only trans-performer she knew of publicly speaking about her experiences; trans-folks were simply not visible the same way they are today with rise of social media and online communities. Through orchestrating talk-backs with the audience—opportunities for members to ask questions about trans-folks and their experiences—Kling realized the potential of performance to also serve as a tool to educate and advocate. 

Kling also shares how there were very little resources for trans students during her time at Northwestern in the early 2000s. She was often sent off-campus to seek resources and did not have access to other members of the trans community. A lot has changed since she graduated in 2007. However, the baseline changes such as all-gender bathrooms, access to HRT, name changes and preferred pronouns, are just the beginning. Kling calls on allies to join the fight in advocating for meaningful and material changes that will allow trans- and gender non-conforming folks to feel validated and safe. Whether it’s at your school, your job, or in your social circle. This call to action is especially crucial during a time when trans rights and bodily autonomy at large are being threatened.

In this episode of Northwestern Intersections, Rebecca Kling shares how through performance studies she realized the radical power of telling your own story, and how she made the transition from performer to educator and activist. Cofounder of Better World Collaborative—a trans-, woman-, and Latinx-owned consultancy firm—she continues to use storytelling to help businesses, nonprofits, and the creative industry take authentic steps to linking their missions in equity and inclusion.  

Links to Northwestern resources for trans-students and allies:

· Northwestern Medicine Gender Pathways Program | Northwestern Medicine. 
· All Gender Housing: Residential Services - Northwestern University
· Queer @ NU: Multicultural Student Affairs - Northwestern University
· Undergraduate Courses (2022-23): Gender & Sexuality Studies Program - Northwestern University
· Center for Applied Transgender Studies
· Out Network Evanston
· Reimagining the GSRC: Campus Inclusion & Community - Northwestern University