Affirming Conversations: Gender Education and Training with OurTransLife

Transgender and gender-diverse people are part of every community — our families, our workplaces, our neighborhoods — yet many people have never had the chance to hear directly from someone living this experience. This community presentation offers an open, welcoming conversation about gender diversity: what it means, what it doesn't mean, and how genuine understanding builds the kind of community where everyone belongs.

Drawing on both lived experience and years of community education work, Julia DiCola from OurTransLife speaks candidly about the transgender experience, addresses common misconceptions, and explores what it truly means to be an ally — not as an obligation, but as part of the shared covenant of community we build together. This conversation is for anyone: neighbors, parents, coworkers, or simply the curious and open-hearted. No prior knowledge is necessary, and all questions are welcome.

What Attendees Will Take Away

• A clearer understanding of gender identity and gender expression, and why the two are often confused.
• Insight into the everyday, human impact of living authentically in a world not always built to affirm that.
• Practical, grounded ways to be a genuine ally — in conversation, in community, and in everyday life.
• An open conversation and Q&A in a welcoming, judgment-free space.

Westport Pride is a community partner for this event.

Bio

Julia Claire DiCola is the Founder and Executive Director of OurTransLife.org (OTL), a Bridgeport-based nonprofit serving the transgender and gender-diverse community across Connecticut through direct programming, community education, peer support, and professional training. A proudly transgender woman and lifelong advocate for human dignity, Julia brings both lived experience and organizational expertise to her work engaging audiences across clinical, educational, and community settings. Under her leadership, OTL has built programming including TRANScend school-based education, Trans-firming peer support groups, and the Affirming Conversations community and professional training series, and she is the creator and developer of OTL's Covenant Guardians, an SEL fantasy role-playing game for young LGBTQ+ individuals designed to help navigate the social pressures of living an authentic life.

Currently, Julia serves as Vice President of the Board of Bridgeport Pride Center, is a member of the Steering Committee of Greater Bridgeport Pride, and is a member stakeholder of the LGBTQ+ Justice & Opportunity Network. She is the author of a weekly social commentary newsletter and Substack page, My Brother Julia: Inspirations Move Me Brightly, and is currently writing her memoir, My Brother Julia (anticipated publication June 2027). She has served as a Stakeholder Member of the CT Children's Research Institute initiative R.E.A.C.H. (Refuge, Education, Allies, Care, Help). Julia is a former Board Director and Board Chair of Optimus Health Care of Bridgeport. She has had the honor of being recognized among five women making history in Bridgeport in 2021 and 2024. In December 2024, Julia was a featured speaker at the Southwest Community Health Care Human Rights Summit, presenting “The Significance of Living Your Authentic Life.”