I often conduct trans-inclusion trainings for professionals on college campuses and was delighted to read an article today from the University of Missouri-Columbia's, Maneater Student Newspaper.

The article announced the launch of a website intended to help transgender students, staff and faculty on Mizzou's campus. The site was designed by a group on campus called the, Trans Action Team under the direction of graduate student, Garrett Hoffman. Garrett was inspired by a similar site he had come across from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and decided his campus would also benefit from a website resource. It is designed to be a one-spot stop for information regarding general education about transgender issues, housing options, facilities (like where to find gender neutral restrooms) and current policies that affect the trans* community.

I think this is an amazing development and one I hope to see more colleges start to create. Through a site like this, students, staff and faculty can show administrators where there are successes and where there are great gaps in serving the transgender community. It can also potentially help increase an individual's sense of safety when looking at a campus and noting where there are places that accommodate gender nonconforming and transgender individuals. Through collaboration with other campus departments, I can see sites like this becoming highly-successful and useful for people on campus, and those searching for a trans-friendly college.

-Ryan Sallans
http://www.ryansallans.com

Being an out transman and a public speaker means that I’m a susceptible target for people who either don’t understand transgender issues or who are fearful, ignorant and immature surrounding things different than them.

I have been fortunate over that years that the transphobia directed at me has not been physically hostile, (verbally is a different story). The newest incident is one that happened while ironically training staff on ways to create a safe and trans-inclusive environment on a college campus. I found out about the incident just after arriving on campus after traveling all morning through airports and by car. The staff person that handled my booking informed me that a poster on campus used to advertise my evening talk had been defaced. My shirtless torso, aligned right of a description of the evening event and directly below my name had been altered, not by a black sharpee or pen, but by items cut out from a magazine and added on top my frame. The transphobic individual first changed some wording on the poster by printing off new lettering and taping over “FTM” to make it “FML.” They then proceeded to find hair and a bra that fit the poster and taped them on me along with two shiny piercings on my lower lip and belly button.

The defaced poster had been found in trash, (obviously someone appalled by it tore it down) and it was taken to the department that was sponsoring my appearance. The college could have not shared this with me, but I’m happy they did because it allowed us to have open conversations and it has allowed me to think more about how to compose and create dialogues that address transphobia. Through conversations with the staff, I knew it was something that shouldn’t be kept secret, it should be talked about and the most powerful person to do it, was the one it was targeted at.

With each week that passes, I read of another college campus that is either looking into or implementing changes to current policies in order to enhance trans-inclusion on campus. I posted a blog in late July about USF offering trans-inclusive housing, this blog is now an update of campuses that I've found have recently made steps in a positive direction for their transgender students.

I was happy to see another college in the Midwest begin making improvements to their housing policy when I read that Grand Valley State University in Michigan has added "gender neutral" as an option to the student's housing form. The article stated, "students can now request a specific person to room with regardless of gender, or be matched with others who check the option.' The article noted that 50 small-universities nation-wide now have a gender-neutral or gender-blind policy in order to improve students sense of safety within their housing structures. UCLA also announced this week that they are looking into this policy as well.

In bigger news, I've now learned of three Universities that have passed student health insurance plans which will include coverage of transition related needs, meaning therapy, hormones and surgeries needed for treatment of GID (Gender Identity Disorder). While attending WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) Conference in Atlanta, Georgia three weeks ago the President of the college spoke about the process their campus went through to include transition-related health coverage within their student policy for Fall of 2011.