Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Last Night’s Meeting – Saturday’s Workshop

Last night there was a meeting on housing discrimination against trans people where we discussed why to educate landlords and the trans community about the law. One of the things we discussed was how trans people might be afraid to complain because of the fear reprisals and the ways we can protect their anonymity.

At the meeting were the directors of housing and the Rainbow Center at the University of Connecticut which was serendipity because on Saturday I am doing a workshop on transitioning in college. So I am calling them later today to talk to them about what the options are for housing on campus and any tips they have about transitioning.

One of the things I found while researching the topic is that UConn has a very good document on transitioning on campus, “Gender Transition Guidelines.” One of the things I discovered in the guidelines was,
Persons undergoing a transition may choose to utilize a transition team. The primary role of a transition team, as assembled in close consultation with the transitioning individual, is to assist in developing a transition plan and to provide support and guidance to the transitioning individual through the process.
[…]
Once assembled, the transition team, with specific input from the transitioning individual, can help to create a transition plan that addresses the steps involved in the individual’s gender transition and the timing of the changes that will occur, to the extent that such changes are relevant to the individual’s workplace or learning environment. The plan will be tailored to the individual and his/her own plan for the gender transition will be taken into account. A gender transition plan can address many issues, including, but not limited to, the following…
How cool is that! They will help you transition at college with counselors and staff to help you get through the paperwork.

When I was talking to the housing director it turned out that we met before, I gave a workshop for the Counseling and Mental Health Services employees a couple of years ago, she was in the audience and out of that workshop came the idea of the guidelines and the transition team.

No comments:

Post a Comment