Check the Box: Trans Checklist for Colleges & Universities

Check your boxes.  Find out where to focus your trans-inclusive efforts on campus.

by Genny Beemyn

Language and Processes

Yes/No
__ __ Have a college nondiscrimination policy that includes “gender identity or expression.”
__ __ If your office has its own nondiscrimination policy or diversity statement, be sure that it includes “gender identity/expression”
__ __ Enable trans students to have a chosen name on university documents (ID cards, class and grade rosters, directory listings, transcripts, diplomas, etc.) upon request.
__ __ Enable transitioning students to change the gender on campus records upon request (i.e, without requiring proof that students have modified their bodies or changed their birth certificates or driver’s licenses).
__ __ Make sure that the language of your website and printed material refers to “people of all genders,” rather than just “men and women.”
__ __ If you need to know the gender of students, revise forms to enable transgender students to self-identify, if they choose. Rather than “sex (choose one): male or female,” use “gender: _____________” or “gender (mark all that apply): male, female, transgender, or self-identify _________.”
__ __ If you take demographic information from students by phone, be sure to ask and not presume their gender.

Physical Access

Yes/No
__ __ Create gender-inclusive restrooms (single-stall, lockable unisex bathrooms) when all buildings, including residence halls, are constructed or renovated.
__ __ Change single-stall men’s and women’s rest rooms into gender-inclusive facilities where plumbing codes allow.
__ __ Create private changing facilities and single-person showers when residence halls and recreation centers are constructed or renovated.
__ __ Have an inclusive housing policy that enables transgender students to be housed in keeping with their gender identity/expression.
__ __ Offer a gender-inclusive housing option, in which all students who request it are assigned a roommate without regard to gender.

Organizational Inclusion

Yes/No
__ __ Require gender-segregated organizations and programs, including some student groups, intramural and varsity sports teams, and fraternities and sororities, to have policies and practices that enable trans students to join, where it is appropriate and not limited by national organizational policies.

Health Services

Yes/No
__ __ Hire therapists, physicians, and other medical personnel who are knowledgeable about trans concerns and train existing staff to understand and be sensitive to the needs of trans students.
__ __ Enable insurance coverage for trans-related psychotherapy, hormone replacement therapy, and gender-affirming surgeries.

Education

Yes No
__ __ Require all Student Affairs staff, Public Safety officers, and other front-line personnel to attend a training session on trans issues.
__ __ Create a web-based campus resource guide for new and prospective trans students.
__ __ Sponsor trans speakers, performers, and other programs on an ongoing basis

Additional Resources:

Campus Pride Index for LGBT-Friendly Colleges & Universities

Genny Beemyn is the Director of the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Stonewall Center, a LGBTQIA+ resource center. Genny has published and spoken extensively on the experiences and needs of transgender people, particularly the lives of gender-nonconforming students.