Transgender 101: A Conversation about Best Practices for Supporting Transgender Folks in Higher Education & Beyond (BWWC at UNC-Chapel Hill, June 2017)

Fellow BWWC 2017 Attendees, thank you all for a productive workshop on trans issues in North Carolina and the United States.

Below you will find the packet and slides from the workshop and a few links for further reading. Please feel free to contact me if you have any follow-up questions.

Session Slides

Basic Terminology and Concepts

• Queer 101: The Downlow on Gender, Sex and Sexuality (webcomic)
• TSER’s Gender Unicorn (explains gender, sex, and different kinds of attractions)
• Safe Zone Project’s Vocabulary Extravaganza
• Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Transgender People But Were Afraid To Ask
• UW-Waukesha LGBTQIA Resource Center Wiki 
• “Shade” — Dorian Corey explains the difference between “shade” and insult in Paris is Burning

Pronoun and Usage Guides

• GLAAD Media Reference Guide – 9th Edition
• An Ally’s Guide to Terminology: Talking About LGBT People & Equality (includes usage suggestions)
• National Association of LGBT Journalists Style Guides & Tip Sheets for LGBT Coverage
• Gender Pronouns (UWM’s LGBT Resource Center)
• Gender Pronouns Guide (UW-Madison’s LGBT Campus Center) 
• They as a gender-inclusive pronoun
  • ‘He or she’ versus ‘they’ (Oxford University Press Dictionaries)
  • Singular “they” and the many reasons why it’s correct

Supporting Trans Students and Co-Workers

• The Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals – Suggested Best Practices for Supporting Trans* Students
• Welcoming Trans Academics in the Workplace and at Conferences (Inside Higher Ed) (by Lisa Hager)
• First Day of Classes Worksheet/ Questionaire (by Lisa Hager)
• University of Wisconsin Preferred Name Policy and Related Resources (by Lisa Hager)
• Transgender Educational Student Resources (TSER)
• Trans Studies in Higher Education Syllabus by Dr. Z Nicolazzo

Trans-Inclusive and -Focused Organizations

• FORGE
• National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE)
• Southerners on New Ground (SONG)
• Transgender Law Center
• Trans Justice Funding Project
• Trans Lifeline

HB2 (NC anti-trans bathroom bill) Resources and Information

• SONG on HB2
  • Continued Coverage of the Issue
  • We Came to Slay HB2
• “HB2 Repeal Bill is an Unmitigated Disaster for LGBTQ Rights and North Carolina” (Slate)
• National Council of State Legislatures’ “Bathroom Bill” Legislative Tracking

Transgender Studies
For further reading, I include the lists below of popular and academic texts, and texts that blur the boundaries between these categories. These lists are meant as starting points for exploring this very diverse field and should not be considered exhaustive by any means.

For those of you who teach, the following syllabi offer trans-inclusive course content suggestions: GSW 201: Introduction to LGBTQ Studies and ENG 284: Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature.

Presses and Journals

• Biyuti Publishing
• Topside Press
• Transgress Press
• TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly

Books
Asterisks (*) indicate texts that I use in classroom

• Butch is a Noun by S. Bear Bergman
• Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation by Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman*
• My New Gender Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving World Peace Through Gender Anarchy and Sex Positivity, 2nd Edition by Kate Bornstein*
• Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits by Loren Cameron
• One in Every Crowd by Ivan E. Coyote
• Sovereign Erotics: A Collection of Two-Spirit Literature edited by Qwo-Li Driskill, Daniel Heath Justice, Deborah Miranda, and Lisa Tatonetti*
• Being Emily and Just Girls by Rachel Gold*
• Queer and Trans Artists of Color: Stories of Some of Our Lives by Nia King
• Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love and So Much More and Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me by Janet Mock*
• Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity and Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive by Julia Serano*
• Lou Sullivan: Daring to be a Man among Men by Brice Smith
• Transgender History by Susan Stryker*
• The Transgender Studies Reader (Volume 1 & Volume 2) edited by Susan Stryker, Stephen Wittle, and Aren Aizura

LGBTQ+ Signage and Posters

• That’s so . . . posters
• All gender bathroom signage:
  • Printable
  • Official signage (currently free for some organizations!)

LGBTQ+ Speakers

• awQward
• Out Media
• Campus Pride

Asexuality Resources