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Transgender Issues
GSAs can be a powerful force in
the fight against discrimination on the basis of gender identity
and gender nonconformity, issues which are often at the root of
homophobic harassment. However, many GSAs have not yet addressed
gender/transgender issues because they do not know how to go
about it. Here are some tips and suggested activities that can
be used to help your GSA become more gender-inclusive, begin
talking about gender and transgender issues, and make your
school safer for transgender or gender-questioning students.
- When your GSA asks for
gender on a form or a survey don't have people mark either
male or female. Leave a blank line and allow people to write
it in.
- Don't separate your GSA into
"boys" and "girls" for activities.
- As a GSA, watch and discuss
movies with gender nonconformist characters, such as Boys
Don't Cry, My life in Pink (Ma Vie en Rose), All About My
Mother, Joan of Arc. Consider hosting a screening of one of
these movies as an educational event at your school, or
design a curriculum for teachers to use if they show one of
these films in class.
- Bring in books and newspaper
articles about people who are transgender. Talk about them
in your GSA.
- Research statistics about
transgender-related harassment and use them in your outreach
and publicity materials.
- Campaign to create a unisex
bathroom at your school. Write a proposal to the principal
and the staff. Tell them you think that there should be one
bathroom (that is not used very much, such as in the nurses
office) which is open to anyone. Let them understand that
you want a safe space where a student of any sex, gender, or
gender identity can change for a sport or use the bathroom
and feel safe.
- Design and lead a gender
sensitivity training for students and/or teachers at your
school. Consider using the following activities to get folks
talking about gender categories and gender-related
expectations:
- Give everyone a chance
to chose pictures of people out of magazines or books.
(ask them not to show anyone their picture.) Ask
everyone to describe the person without referring to the
persons "privates" or using pronouns that we associate
with a specific gender. Have each person read aloud
their description and then have everyone "guess" the
gender. Here are a list of questions you can use for
discussion when the "guessing" is done: Why did you
associate some adjectives with men or women? Is
something wrong with a person who's attributes are not
considered normal for their gender? Why or why not? Can
someone be both masculine and feminine, does that change
their gender?
- Break everyone into
small groups (or one on one if your group is small
already) give each person a bag of mixed jelly beans or
M's (anything will work as long as they are the same
size and shape and that they do vary in color) Tell each
group to divide their bag up into two categories, using
any criteria they can think of. Give people as much time
as they need. Here are some follow-up questions. How did
you divide up the contents of the bag? Was it hard to
think of criteria? Can some objects fit into both
categories? If not can you think of an instance when an
object could? Or where one couldn't fit into either
group? Do you think some people don't fit into one
particular gender category? Do you think if someone has
the body of a "man" and acts like a "woman" (or
vice-versa) that they should alter their body or
dress/style to fit the gender that they act like? Why or
why not?
- Get a copy of My Gender
Workbook by Kate Bornstein for your club. Look through the
book for other activities to use both within your club and
for outreach or education purposes.
- Always keep in mind that
when you talk about gender not to make a huge issue out of
it; allow people to feel comfortable. If you sensationalize
people who are transgender or questioning (and members of
your GSA may be struggling with issues of gender identity)
you may make them feel even more uncomfortable or confused.
You want to create a safe place for your peers.
These activities were designed by
California GSA Network Youth Council Member Lizzie Cohen. If you
wish to republish them, please contact her at
lizzie@gsanetwork.org.
Terms and Definitions:
(This list is not
comprehensive and may not apply to every individual.)
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Androgynous:
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A term for
a person who expresses or presents merged
socially-defined masculine and feminine characteristics,
or mainly neutral characteristics.
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Cross-dressing:
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Dressing as
someone from a different gender category; may be done by
people from all genders and sexual orientations. Cross
dressers sometimes referred to as transvestites.
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Drag: |
Cross-dressing, especially in public or in a
performance.
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Female-To-Male (FTM),
Male-To-Female (MTF): |
Used to
classify cross dressers, transgender individuals, or
transsexuals; may indicate either gender expression or
gender identity.
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Feminine: |
Concept of
what is "naturally" or traditionally female in terms of
appearance, behavior, and personality.
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Gender: |
Gender
covers a wide range of issues that affect everyone.
Subcategories of gender
include:
- Gender
Characteristics
Characteristics that are used by others to
attribute gender to an individual, such as facial
hair or vocal pitch
- Gender
Expression/Gender Presentation
The way a person expresses his or her gender
through gestures, movement, dress, and grooming
- Gender Identity
A person's understanding, definition, or
experience of their own gender, regardless of
biological sex
- Gender
Nonconformity
Not expressing gender or not having gender
characteristics or gender identity that conform to
the expectations of society and culture
- Gender Role
Culturally accepted and expected behavior
associated with biological sex.
- Gender Binary
System
A social system that requires that everyone be
raised as a boy or girl (dependent on what sex you
are assigned at birth) which in turn forms the basis
for how you are educated, what jobs you can do (or
are expected to do), how you are expected to behave,
what you are expected to wear, what your gender &
gender presentation should be, and who you should be
attracted to/love/marry, etc.
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Intersex: |
Refers
to someone who is biologically neither completely male
nor completely female; may have genital and/or
reproductive body parts of both sexes. Visit
www.isna.org for more information about
intersex issues.
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Masculine: |
Concept of
what is "naturally" or traditionally male in terms of
appearance, behavior, and personality.
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Passing: |
Cross-dressing well enough to be seen as a member of a
different sex/gender category.
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Sex: |
One's
biological assignment as male, female, or intersexed.
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Transgender (TG): |
A term for
designating those who transcend or transgress gender by
not looking, acting, being, or identifying as
traditionally male or female; can include cross
dressers, transsexuals, intersex people, and other
gender nonconformists.
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Transsexual (TS): |
A person
who feels that his or her gender identity does not match
their biological sex ("I'm a woman in a man's body"
etc.); a pre-op (preoperative) transsexual is a TS
preparing to have sex reassignment surgery, and a
post-op (postoperative) transsexual has already
undergone sex reassignment, although not all
transsexuals desire surgery; some transsexuals take
hormones to make their bodies look more male or female. |
Courtesy of the
California GSA Network
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