Donna Rose, a transsexual who champions the right of self-expression, spoke Tuesday about her personal experiences and challenged traditional views of gender roles as part of Gender Liberation Week.

An author and advocate for the transgender community, Rose acknowledged that although transsexuality is an uncomfortable subject for many, it is one that must be addressed.

“If you don’t put a face to it, things will never change,” she said.

Born as a male, Rose knew by the age of 6 that her body did not express her sense of self. Without an outlet for discussion of transgender issues, she hid her insecurities.

Rose realized in her mid-40s that she could not hide her true self any longer. In her lecture, she said that witnessing a successful surgery was the impetus for beginning her own physical transformation.

Rose described both the physical pain of the procedure and the emotional pain of rejection by her son and wife. She documented the experience of moving away from her family through letters and journal entries that she eventually compiled into a book, “Wrapped in Blue.”

Describing how her new femininity affected various aspects of her life after her transformation, Rose said that the privileges she received as a white, middle-aged man disappeared after the surgery. Rose told her audience that she makes $10,000 less as a woman than she did as a man.

She added that her sister worries because she is not conscientious about her personal safety as a woman.

“I don’t know what it’s like to feel vulnerable,” Rose said. “My life experience didn’t give me that fear.”

Rose is currently training for the freestyle women’s wrestling event in the 2012 Olympics. Although her transition was difficult, she now speaks nationwide about her experiences and about issues affecting the transgender community, always attempting to leave her audience with a positive message.

“You are more than the sum of your parts,” Rose said.

Her talk, which was sponsored by the LGBTQ Resource Center, Diversity Action Council, The Lecture Fund, GU Pride, Men of Strength, GU Minority Association of Pre-Health Students and the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action, opened Gender Liberation Week.

The week will conclude with a vigil in Red Square Friday afternoon in honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance.