Four university resources for transgender students, guests
- Individual support from the Office of Residence Life
Living accommodations are available to all transgender students by request from the Office of Residence Life, and are handled based on the student’s level of comfort. All RAs are trained and work closely with LGBT staff to ensure all students’ needs are met.
“We want all MU students to feel as if they are a part of the motto ‘We Are Marquette.’ All students need to feel valued, welcomed and at home while living with us and attending the university.” – Mary Janz, executive director of housing and residence life.
- Gender neutral bathrooms in residence hall lobbies
Implemented in December 2015, all single-person restrooms on the ground floor of university-owned housing structures are outfitted with gender neutral signage and labels. The decision aims to recognize all Marquette students and guests, according to Christine Taylor, Title IX coordinator of the division of student affairs, and comes at a time of increasing dialogue about transgender accommodation across the country.
- Bi-weekly support and discussion groups
Groups are reserved for individuals navigating their gender identity and take place alternating Thursdays at the LGBTQ+ Resource Center in room 140 of the Alumni Memorial Union. The groups welcome all transgender individuals, whether transgender binary or transgender non-binary, as well as intersex individuals ages 18-24 in Milwaukee.
“For those that identify (as trans and gender-diverse), this is a brave space to explore their trans identities and gather with similarly identifying folks.” – Enrique Tejada, programs and services coordinator of the LGBTQ+ resource center.
- The LGBTQ+ Resource Center
Created in 2015, Marquette’s LGBTQ+ Resource Center provides a wide variety of student support services and events. These events included a resource summit, open house, speaker series and “Ball Culture,” a ballroom showcase. The LGBTQ+ Resource Center works along with the Center for Gender and Sexualities Studies, a space to support both academic work and the lived experience of gender and sexualities, to provide support and advocate for the LGBT community.
“Our goal is to provide resources for students who come forward seeking help, and our LGBTQ+ Resource Center has already proven to be invaluable in just over a year. This foundational step to create two centers for LGBTQ+ students, faculty and staff is pivotal in helping (Marquette) make progress and continue an open dialogue.” – Christine Taylor Title IX coordinator of the division of student affairs.
Definitions:
Encompassing term of many gender identities of those who do not identify or exclusively identify with their sex assigned at birth. The term transgender is not indicative of gender expression, sexual orientation, hormonal makeup, physical anatomy or how one is perceived in daily life.
Binary: Used as an adjective to describe the genders female/male or woman/man. Since the binary genders are the only ones recognized by general society as being legitimate, they enjoy an (unfairly) privileged status.
Non-Binary: Preferred umbrella term for all genders other than female/male or woman/man, used as an adjective (e.g. Jesse is a non-binary person). Not all non-binary people identify as trans and not all trans people identify as non-binary. Sometimes (and increasingly), non-binary can be used to describe the aesthetic/presentation/expression of a cisgender or transgender person.
Intersex: Describing a person with a less common combination of hormones, chromosomes and anatomy that are used to assign sex at birth.Parents and medical professionals usually coercively assign intersex infants a sex and have, in the past, been medically permitted to perform surgical operations to conform the infant’s genitalia to that assignment. The term intersex is not interchangeable with or a synonym for transgender (although some intersex people do identify as transgender).
Source: Trans Student Educational Resources
