Tufts students gathered last night to discuss the complex topics of gender issues and transgenderism.
Denise Leclair, Executive Director of the International Foundation for Gender Education led the discussion with Tufts graduates Kelly Sanborn (LA '04) and Kit Stanton (LA '04).
The panel commenced with an explanation of what exactly transgenderism is, and a definition of transsexuality.
"Transgenderism has come to be an umbrella term in today's society - it has come to mean somebody who challenges today's gender rules," Leclair said. "Many believe transsexuals to be people who changed gender through surgical procedure, but this is not always the case. Many times these people don't have the money to change or simply don't like doctors."
Leclair summed up her definition of transgender people by noting that "transgender people may be confusing but we are not confused."
The conversation then switched to the challenges facing transgender people in the United States.
"Many transgender people can't get proper documentation for their sex and that makes it difficult to find a job," Leclair said. "Also, more than half of the transgender people I know are disowned by their families. They find themselves on the street getting by hustling drugs or being a prostitute. It's not because you want to but because you have no choice."
Stanton, a transgender Tufts graduate, talked about discrimination at work and the difficulty of finding a bathroom.
"The job I got had a non-discrimination policy but did not mention anything about transgender people," Stanton said. While filling out an identification form at work, a superior insisted that Stanton write "Katherine," the first name listed on Stanton's birth certificate, instead of "Kit" - the name that Stanton had been known by for years. When Stanton asked the superior why the name change would be so important, he said that it would be more comfortable that way.
"I didn't know if I could even file a complaint about this or not because the company had no policy at all," Stanton said.
"When I went into the bathroom, I would get a lot of awkward stares, awkward silences," Stanton said. "I thought, 'Do I have to explain myself to these people when I go to the bathroom?'"
Sanborn then mentioned the changes she worked to make on the Tufts campus in order to make it more transgender-friendly over her years at the University, including changing some of the bathroom designations to make them more accessible for transgender individuals.
"There are a lot of single-stalled lockable bathrooms at Tufts that were gendered," Sanborn said. She worked with the Tufts administration to change the signs on the bathrooms so that they did not specify any gender.
"The administration was very friendly and some changes were made ... but a lot more still has to be done. There was some hostility from groups on campus ... who made lots of excuses that basically showed the transgender uneasiness that existed on campus," Sanborn said.
Sanborn also worked successfully to include a transgender policy in the housing policy at the University, which changed the housing policy to deal specifically with transgender cases.
Leclair concluded the presentation by calling for change in discrimination laws to include transgender people in the United States.
"At a national level we don't have much success, but on a state and local level we are seeing more support," Leclair said.
The event was sponsored by the Tufts Transgender, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Collective (TTLGBC) and by Emerge, a political organization working on behalf of the LGBT community.
