The Harvard Crimson (Harvard University), MA, USA


15 Most Interesting Seniors 2010: Ezekiel O. Smith

By Madeleine Smith, CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Published: Friday, December 11, 2009


[Photo: Ezekiel O. Smith]




"Some Harvard students change concentrations,” Ezekiel O. Smith ’10
says. “I changed my concentration and my gender.”

After coming to Harvard as openly lesbian, Smith came out as
transgender his junior year and has recently taken steps to further
the transition. His refreshingly candid approach to talking about
transgender, queer, and feminist issues has gained appreciation around
Harvard’s campus among friends and strangers alike.

“He’s always been the courageous person to speak out and to make sure
that his point is heard,” says Smith’s roommate Jia Hui Lee ’12. “It’s
great because there are not many students who identify as trans at
Harvard, so having him speak out and voice certain views is very, very
important.”

Smith’s background further distinguishes him from his Harvard peers.
“He’s from a cow ranch in Oklahoma, came out as trans, and is studying
religion at Harvard,” says Eva B. Rosenberg ’10, Smith’s girlfriend.
“There are a lot of contradictions about him in terms of where he came
from.”

While working with the former Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and
Supporters Alliance (now the QSA), the Women’s Center, the Radcliffe
Union of Students (RUS), and the Trans Task Force, Smith has lent his
own unique perspective to issues of queer and feminist activism
relating to what he identifies as “sex-positive activism.”

“I see myself as part of a movement both on campus and in the larger
sphere of society that says sex can be talked about,” Smith says. “We
need to talk about sex and have a culture where it’s cool to talk
about sex, how to have sex better, how to have sex differently, and
how to be kinky.”

Such provocative comments shouldn’t be a surprise coming from a guy
who works as a “consultant” on one of RUS’s most attention-grabbing
events each spring. “I’m known as much for my gender as hocking dildos
every year at the Female Orgasm Seminar,” Smith says with a laugh.

Along with the seminar, Smith has been instrumental in bringing
members of the transgender community to Harvard and initiating change
within the University to create a more welcoming environment for queer
and transgender students and staff.

Amongst friends, Smith is also known for literally bringing something
else to the table—his own innovative cuisine. Smith jokes that with
the threat of unemployment after graduation next spring, culinary
school could start looking more and more appealing. “I love to be the
host with the most,” he says.

His friends appreciate his knack for entertaining—not only for the
food, but for what it reveals about Smith as a person. “That general
sense of sharing his cooking extends to him sharing a lot of himself
with his friends and his community,” Lee says.

This willingness to share is a key part of Smith’s identity, and
something he will never apologize for. “I have opinions and I’m used
to having to defend those opinions,” Smith says. “I’m out there, and
I’ll say it.”


Copyright © 2009, The Harvard Crimson, Inc.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2009/12/11/15-most-interesting-ezekiel/