“When you’re looking at an ID and then back at a person, how do you respectfully ask questions - and it’s OK if there are questions,” Schelling said in an interview. Schelling, the executive director of TENT, which is a transgender- and BIPOC-led nonprofit, believes that education leads to a reduction of stigma, which is why TENT offers cultural competence trainings - or “Gender 101,” as he calls it - to businesses, schools, medical students, bars and restaurants as part of its services.
