Scott Turner Schofield is an acclaimed diversity educator on transgender issues. He is an Emmy-nominated actor and the first openly transgender actor to play a major role on daytime television (THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL). Currently, Scott consults for HBO's EUPHORIA. He is a man who was a woman, a lesbian turned (mostly) straight guy who most people think is a gay man. He takes your labels and shreds them with a wink and a smile.
With extraordinary skill and compassion, in his workshops and presentations Schofield meets every individual exactly where they are on their knowledge of gender, biological sex, and sexuality, and facilitates their own expansion on these topics. He co-creates the conversation with each audience group, blending his expertise as a Trans advocate with the pace of the conversation taking place in the room.
Schofield's brilliance lies in his ability to talk about intersectionality - the way that the topics of biological sex, gender, and sexuality are influenced by factors like race, socioeconomic status, geographical location, disability, etc. As every person experiences gender in their own way, he strives to offer a framework for looking at these topics - not a one-size-fits-all “answer” to a “problem.”
And all along the participants lead the way, always leaving enlightened in their individual ways.
His style is light and entertaining, blending in moments of storytelling and allowing personal questions in order to engage his audience’s emotional intelligence, to seal the “hearts and minds” aspect of advocacy that is so important.
In addition to his lectures and workshops, Schofield is also an award-winning writer and performer. He has toured internationally with his original solo performances "Debutante Balls" and "Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps". He has been honored with many distinctions and awards, among them a "Fruitie" audience choice award for Best Off-Broadway Performance, and a Princess Grace Foundation Acting Fellowship.
His book, Two Truths and a Lie, was a finalist in two categories for the Lambda Literary Award, and made the American Library Association Rainbow List. He also acts for TV, theater, and film, starring in a documentary with VH1 "I'm Married to A…".
Scott Turner Schofield’s engagements include lectures, workshops, and performances in youth, college, municipal, and corporate settings about gender identity and how to be an ally to transgender people. His combination of education, advocacy and entertainment is engaging and transformative.
Just in time for election season! Powerbullies and Your Power to Overcome Them.
Powerbullies are those who love power more than they understand the power of love. We see them in every election cycle, and all over mainstream media. Sometimes we also see them at home, school, and work. Their behavior - sometimes racist, sometimes homophobic, sometimes a medley of offensive and oppressive language and action - unfortunately does have the power to harm us. Their insidious language can get under our skin and play out in our own behavior later, even when we know "the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house." (Audre Lorde)
This interactive talk uses storytelling, guided meditation, and simple exercises to help you harness your personal power to overcome the powerbullies in the media, or in your mind. Learn how to let go of anger that does not serve you, and use love to fuel your activism. You'll learn how to strip those bullies of their power - transforming their mistakes into your social change.
Changing the World, One Story at a Time (Lecture or Workshop)
I moved to Los Angeles for love, thinking maybe I would change my name and identity for Hollywood so that I could be an actor like anyone else, use my blending privilege to escape transgender employment discrimination. Two weeks later, without an agent or manager, I was offered a recurring role on The Bold and the Beautiful - the most-watched daytime drama on the planet. This wasn't just luck. It was the culmination of over a decade of working internationally as a professional theater artist and diversity speaker. And I had to be living my truth as a transgender man to be chosen for the groundbreaking, historic role I play on the show, which has won my acting skills more visibility than most actors in Hollywood ever achieve.
In this lecture I talk about how transgender stories in particular are so world-changing. In the workshop I teach people of all identities how to tell a world-changing story. It's historical, it's an English class, it's Performance Studies and activism, it's a toolkit of empowerment for any marginalized group.
Transgender 101
Participants are introduced to definitions of gender, and the sticky parts of our labels, through interactive lecture and personal Q & A. Heritage, class, physical ability, sexuality and more are discussed as complimentary and complicating factors to aid participants in deciding how to be good allies, and build community.
Community Dialog: Trans-Community Forum
The Trans-Community Forum privileges storytelling over rhetoric, everyday issues over political or philosophical questions of identity. Access to rhetoric defining what is acceptable to progressive and/or “subversive” communities silences us: we might offend! We could be shunned! We need space to learn without fear of alienating others or isolating ourselves. Through storytelling and radical listening, the Trans-Community Forum creates a space where participants can be individuals in community who are, care about, or want to learn more about
Transgender people without fear.
Who Am I? Inviting In Instead of Coming Out
We are all so much more than our labels, so this workshop focuses on the story of coming out, and the whole individual to whom the story belongs. Creative writing and performance exercises mix with real-life discussions on how culture, class, ability, religion, safety, and the job market empower or discourage us from staking a claim in the LGBTQ spectrum. Participants leave with a story and tactics for completing and telling it.
Performance: Debutante Balls
Reading: Two Truths and a Lie
Critically-acclaimed storytelling that has toured the world for a decade honors trans* visibility with positive stories that draw in allies, gently educating hearts and minds. Technical requirements vary, from full full-out production to multipurpose or lecture hall delivery, to the simplest storytelling: A teller, listeners, and a circle
Workshop: Gender Self-Esteem
While resources exist to meet the needs of a person with low self-esteem, what preventative measures exist? What can we do every day to feel better, before we need to seek help for how bad it can get? Gender Self-Esteem takes a holistic view of personhood - including intersecting identities of race, ethnicity, sexual and gender orientation, size, ability, religion, geography, and class - and offers exercises to meet each individual on their own terms to create their own ritual of self care. From meditation to personal grooming to socializing in safer spaces than bars, this workshop offers:
• isolation-busting discussion
• hands-on techniques
• and resources for further learning.
Participants leave with their own plan for building the life they want, and, if they choose, an accountability buddy from the group.
