Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit

The second annual Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit will be taking place on the Rice University campus July 20-21, 2010 in the Kyle Morrow Room of the Fondren Library. The Houston GLBT Community Center is a sponsor/partner for this summit.

Depending on how her schedule plays out, the TransGriot is about 90% certain she may make that her first local trans event she attends since moving back to the Lone Star State.

The Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit will primarily be focused on the struggle to gain transgender coverage in collegiate policies. One of the goals of the TTNS is to create a statewide supportive network of like minded individuals working to make Lone Star State campuses inclusive for all.

Only a small handful of colleges and universities have made this important acknowledgement of the fact that transgender students matriculating at Texas colleges exist. The University of Texas at Austin, Rice University, South Texas College of Law, Houston Community College System, and the University of Houston System.

Josephine Tittsworth, one of the TTNS organizers points out, "The need for change is very great in order to allow people the freedom of experiencing educational advancement to its fullest extent."

"Transgender faculty, staff, and students experience systemic discrimination in such simply tasks as an expedient and respectful name change on records, housing, facility access, and fair competition among colleagues and students. There is also a serious lack of education on transgender lives and issues on college campuses."

And the need for transgender education is needed at HBCU campuses as well.

TTNS participants will learn what works and what doesn't work in changing policy on college campuses to protect transgender faculty, staff, and students. You'll get the opportunity to make connections with people already doing this important work and learn from their successes and failures.

All Texas Colleges and Universities wishing to gain transgender rights in institution policies should attend this strategy sharing summit in Houston.

I'd like to see some representation from Texas based HBCU's such as Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M as well.

If you're considering coming down from other parts of the state and do so by bus, METRORail's Red Line runs in front of the Greyhound Station and past the Rice University campus, located at 6100 Main St.

Registration is free to all participants, and the Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit has a Facebook page that you can direct further questions you have to the event organizers. I'll also update this post with further contact info once I receive it.

Hope to see you at the upcoming TTNS Summit.