All The Seven Sisters Will Admit Trans Feminine Students

The Seven Sisters are a group of historical elite women's collegiate institutions in the Northeast US founded between 1837-1889 whose primary was to not only give female students a liberal arts education equivalent to men, but provide opportunities for women in academia. 

The Seven Sisters received that nickname in 1927 and are Barnard College,in New York City; Bryn Mawr College, in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA; Radcliffe College in Cambridge, MA; Smith College in Northampton, MA; Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY; and Wellesley College in Wellesley, NY.

Radcliffe and Vassar were once women only colleges, but became coed institutions.  The remaining Seven Sisters institutions had debate about the issue, but decided to remain women's colleges.

They were founded  in an era in which their mission was to give women a college education, and they have been exceedingly successful at that mission. 

The Seven Sisters count as their alumni such notable people as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Emily Dickinson, Secretary of State Madeline K. Albright, Diane Sawyer, Glenda Hatchett, Debra Martin Chase,Yolanda King, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Joan Rivers, Cynthia Nixon, Ntozake Shange, Molly Ivins, Gloria Steinem and Katharine Hepburn along with thousands of other alums around the world that include several friends of mine..

But in the late 20th and early 21st century, the question of how to accommodate transgender students has arisen. The  definition of womanhood has evolved, but the admissions policies of the Seven Sisters haven't.   Those hypocritical policies allowed trans men to matriculate on those campuses if they started their transitions after being admitted as female bodied people but barred trans feminine students from even enrolling.

When Calliope Wong was denied admission at Smith, that brought new scrutiny to those Smith policies and triggered reexamination of those policies to ensure they admitted all women who wished to attend.

Mount Holyoke because the first of the Seven Sisters to admit trans feminine students in 2014, and now Barnard College starting this fall will do so.

“As expected, a wide range of passionate and deeply held beliefs were discussed and debated,” Barnard’s president, Debora Spar, and the chair of its board of trustees, Jolyne Caruso-FitzGerald, wrote in a joint June 4 letter to the Barnard community. “But on two main points, the responses were compelling and clear.

“There was no question that Barnard must reaffirm its mission as a college for women. And there was little debate that trans women should be eligible for admission to Barnard.”

Barnard will consider applications from anyone who now “consistently identifies as a woman,” but not those who have transitioned to become men, or those whose gender identity is fluid.

It will be interesting to see what happens now that trans feminine students can matriculate at Barnard and the other Seven Sisters campuses.

FLOTUS Tuskegee Commencement Speech On Race

First Lady Michelle Obama was the commencement speaker for Tuskegee University's 2015 commencement last Saturday, and in that 30 minute speech she touched on some of the racist disrespect that she and President Obama have received that predated his election in November 2008.

Mrs. Obama recounted the racist comments she and her husband have endured during their time in the political spotlight as the eventual First Couple.  The reprehensible highlights included she and the future President being assumed to be “the help” by fellow guests at formal events and Fox News calling the First Lady her “husband’s crony of color” and “Obama’s baby mama.”

Yeah, that last one pissed me and my mother the hell off when we heard it.  We both went on a long rant discussing it one night

But the point the FLOTUS was making in this speech is that it isn't about her, but the ongoing systemic problem of racism in America.  She also urged affected communities to never give up hope for a better tomorrow as we fight the ills that negatively affect us today.

So here's the video of the Tuskegee University commencement speech

Successful TSU 50 Shades Of Me Panel

Last night I was honored to participate on a panel discussion that discussed mental health and the trans community

The panel was entitled 50 Shades Of Me: Mental Health And The Transgender Community and took place in the Jordan-Leland Public Affairs Building on the Texas Southern University campus.

In addition to some blogger y'all know about, the panel included Atlantis Capri, Marie Angel Hernandez, Jude Feng, and Dr. Natalie Walker, and moderated by Dr. Dominique Broussard, one of the organizers of it along with Dr Andrea Shelton.

It was also the first panel I've done on a HBCU campus, and it was gratifying to me it happened on a campus in which I have deep familial ties.

The 50 Shades Of Me panel was a two hour event in which after a greeting by Dr Broussard and an opening statement by Jarvis Calhoun, there was a video played about a young trans kid named Ryland before we dove into the moderated topic of mental health and the trans community.

We discussed the impact of society, the microaggressions and macroaggressions, our personal recollections about it, and other issues that transpeople face that affect them mental health wise. 

It was also enlightening to have J Feng there to not only represent the transmasculine end of it, but talk about trans issues from an Asian-American perspective.

It was also nice to have Dr Walker there to talk about it as a cis feminine therapist who has trans clients perspective.

A pleasant surprise was Dee Dee Watters showing up in the auditorium with roses to present to the panelists. 

The panel's last 30 minutes was opened to audience Q&A before it wrapped up at 8 PM.

This was the first in a series of conversations involving the trans community that will take place on the TSU campus, and Dr Shelton and Dr.Broussard are committed to keeping this dialogue going because it needs to happen.

This was just the beginning of an ongoing conversation, and looking forward to the next one that happens.

Headed To HCC Southeast Again!

Later this  morning I'll be on the HCC Southeast campus for another panel discussion.

Y'all know how much I enjoy bouncing to the colleges in this area  and beyond talking about trans issues, and this latest panel will happen at 11:15 AM.

The HCC Southeast campus is located at 6815 Rustic St just off I-45 near the Gulf Freeway and it will be in the Angela Morales Building's first floor lecture hall.

Looking forward to seeing the students, HCC Southeast faculty and whatever allies can attend the event and having a fun and informative discussion..

When Is Vandalism NOT Vandalism?

When white kids engage in it.

In our latest episode of White Privilege Gone Wild, several University of Michigan fraternities and sororities did their best Animal House impressions and trashed two ski resorts in Gaylord and Harbor Springs, MI during the January 16-18 weekend.

At the Treetops resort in Gaylord, 120 members of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and Sigma Alpha Tau sorority did $50,000 in what was termed significant damage.  

They were staying in 45 rooms at the resort and according to reports, damaged hallway ceiling tiles, broke windows, broke and damaged furniture, ripped lights out of fixtures and generally left the place a filthy mess before they were escorted by Michigan State Police off the property.

Meanwhile at the Boyne Highlands resort in Harbor Springs, the Pi Kappa Alpha and Chi Psi frats and the Delta Gamma and Alpha Psi sororities were merrily engaged in destroying furniture and fixtures, putting holes in the drywall, broke doors and ruined carpet in the 12 condo units they were renting to the tune of several thousand dollars.

The resorts are considering filing charges in the wake of this incident, the Michigan State Police are still investigating, and the University of Michigan Greek Life office is still doing their own investigation that could result in sanctions for the orgs involved.

"The entire University of Michigan community is deeply saddened by the actions of some of our students last weekend at two northern Michigan ski resorts," said UM spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald

"The damage caused by out-of-control students fueled by excessive alcohol consumption at Treetops Resort and Boyne Highlands is an affront to the thousands of respectful, hard-working students on our campus."

The Sigma Alpha Mu chapter national office has suspended the chapter indefinitely as chapter president Joshua Kaplan issued an apology for the actions of their off the chain members

But it was interesting to note in the comment sections of the stories about the college students gone wild, how quick people were to try to excuse their behavior.   Non-whites in those story comment threads pointed out that if these had been Black kids or Black Greek orgs, those resorts probably wouldn't have waited until Sunday to call the po-po's, and you can bet those kids wouldn't have been politely escorted off the property by the Michigan State Police.

A Black frat or sorority engaged in the same level of nekulturny behavior would have had the cops called on them as soon as the music got too loud.    The state police would have showed up with guns drawn, hauled people off to jail upon arrival and the resorts would have immediately filed charges.

FOX Noise would be putting this story on an endless loop, calling the kids 'thugs and hooligans' as they did so, castigated their parents, dissed the frats and sororities, injected the arrest mugshots in the story and gleefully used it to race bait the entire Black community.

They would have also found some kind of way to blame President Obama for it.

We'll be watching in Black America to see what actually happens to these affluent frat and sorority kids that were involved in this reprehensible incident, but we're pessimistically expecting that affluenza and white privilege will prevail as we wait for Bill O'Reilly, Geraldo Rivera  and Sean Hannity to call out the bad behavior on their shows.

But judging by what we've observed from the justice system over the last few months, we have a reason to be pessimistic.

6th Annual Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit Recap

To be honest, I'd like to take a road trip to San Antonio, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Austin or even better one of our Texas HBCU campuses in Texas Southern University or Prairie View A&M to attend or teach a seminar at a TTNS one day.
-TransGriot, July  21, 2013    5th Annual Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit Recap.


You know what they say about being careful for what you wish for, you just might get it.  

And what we got for the 6th Annual Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit on August 8-9 was a road trip.  For the first time in TTNS history, we Houston folks would have to hit the road to attend an event that was born inside Beltway 8.  

The 6th edition of the TTNS would be hosted by the wonderful folks at Texas State University in San Marcos, and I hit I-10 west on a warm sunny Thursday morning with Maria Gonzales, Kristen Capps and Daniel Williams for the 166 mile run to their campus nestled between Austin and San Antonio. 

And yes, there were some very interesting conversations during that drive. 

Texas State used to be known as Southwest Texas State until the 2003 name change, and its most famous alum is Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States along with country singer George Strait and actor Powers Boothe.. 

After a lunch stop at the 80 year old Frank's Restaurant along I-10 in Schulenburg, we hit San Marcos a little after 2 PM   Our hotel was across the street from a popular outlet mall, and the hotel was surprisingly full because we had the double whammy of summer graduation on the Texas State campus transpiring Friday and the start of the Texas tax free shopping weekend.  

Ironically it was hotter in San Marcos than the home sweet humidity I left behind, with the temp hitting 102 degrees F (39 C).  Not long after I settled into my room and decided to grab some ice and something to drink, I ran into my roomie Nikki Vogel in the hallway.   The last time I'd seen her was when UH was trying to pass the Tittsworth Act.   Since then she's been working on her masters at UT-Austin and is taking a killer class load to get it done in less time.

Several hours later we were making the short drive down I-35 south to New Braunfels and Oma's Haus to sample its tasty German-Texan cooking.  I had their German chocolate cake for dessert, and Mom, yours is light years better. 

I passed on the peanut butter fudge knowing I needed to get some sleep for our busy day tomorrow. 

Friday dawned with Nikki and I after a pit stop at a nearby Starbucks to get her coffee, heading to the LBJ Student Center at 8 AM to help set up its cavernous third floor ballroom for breakfast and the historic first day of the TTNS.  

After the meet and greet phase, founder Josephine Tittsworth took to the stage at 9:30 AM to welcome everyone to the TTNS and introduce Dr. Sherri Benn, the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and the Director of Multicultural Student Affairs at Texas State. 

I'd already started during the meet and greet at our table having an awesome conversation with her, Dr. Audwin Anderson and Jesse Silva in which we were discussing a wide range of topics before the TTNS day started.  

She welcomed everyone to the Texas State campus and laid out in her occasion speech why we were there.  Dr. Benn is also an ordained minister, and it was evident in her rousing speech.
 
After Dr. Benn's speech concluded, Josephine introduced our MC Jenifer Rene Pool, who shortly after taking the stage introduced our Friday keynote speaker in Dr. Gage Paine, the Vice President for Student Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin just up I-35 from San Marcos.

Dr. Paine's keynote started at 10:55 AM and was entitled 'The Power of Paradox'.  She talked about the university paradox of being a guardian of tradition, yet also being an agent for change.  Another interesting point she made during her keynote is that what needs to be done to create allies for systemic chance is not to talk more, but to listen. 


Another point that jumped out at me during her speech is that mixed messages are part of the paradox.   Dr Paige closed with another thought provoking message in be yourself, but live in community before taking questions from the audience.

After lunch came the initial session of the 2014 TTNS conducted by Iliana Melendez, the Student Conduct Officer for Texas State, entitled Understanding Title IX on a College Campus.   Melendez's presentation focused on the parts of Title XI discrimination claims based on gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity.

In addition to pointing out it protects students, faculty and staff, she then talked about the expansion of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act of 2013 that takes effect October 1, and the Know Your IX website.  When she was done answering questions about her presentation, Josephine took to the stage to talk about the Macy v Holder case and the Title XI sections that help trans collegiate students

After a ten minute break, at 2:30 PM we prepared to leave the ballroom and head to the first concurrent sessions of our choice.  The choices were Chris Busby's Engaging The Conservative Movement In Meaningful Dialogue or Supporting Trans* Students of Color

Since I'd checked out Chris' seminar last year, I decide to check out the one in LBJSC 3-14 taught by the Texas State team of Corey Benson, Jesse Silva, Iliana Melendez and Texas State police officer Sue Taylor.

It was an interactive seminar that discussed the point that we all have multiple dimensions of identity.   There was some lively discussion about privilege being brought into all marginalized spaces and needing to be aware of that ended far too soon at 3:40 PM  

After we returned to the ballroom for closing remarks from Josephine, Day 1 of the TTNS at Texas State ended with a reception that lasted until 5:30 PM  

Two hours later Nikki, Josephine, Cheryl Cabusas and I headed to Centerpoint Station, another local eatery that had milk shakes made with Blue Bell ice cream.  Passed on them this time because I was full from the meal.

Day 2 of the TTNS began with Corey Benson introducing our Saturday welcoming speaker in Dr. Brandon Beck who had made a little trans history of his own the day before.   Dr. Beck became the first open transperson to earn a doctorate at Texas State, and he picked it up at the summer graduation ceremony the day before.

After his speech, I got to teach starting at 9:30 AM my Contemporary Texas Trans History seminar in LBJSC 3-14, while in LBJSC 3-13 the other concurrent seminar was Transgender Perspectives: Learning From Literature that Dr. Brandon Beck was teaching. 

After that seminar block, we returned to the ballroom at 10:55 AM for Jenifer's introduction of our Saturday keynote speaker in Equality Texas Field Organizer Daniel Williams.

Daniel's entertaining and informative keynote speech was entitled  'A Tale of Three Amendments'.  It discussed the odious attempts by Texas Republican legislators Wayne Christian and Bill Zedler to shut down LGBT resource centers on Texas collegiate campuses and the progress made in getting bipartisan support to keep them alive.  His speech also discussed the Littleton v Prange and Delgado v Araguz trans marriage cases and noting that with the looming January start of the 2015 Texas Legislative session we will have to fight  hard to defend those gains  

After the opportunity to ask Daniel some questions we moved to lunch and the concurrent sessions starting at 1:15 PM.  The choices were the Transgender Legal Issues one by the Frye, Oaks and Benavidez PLLC Law Firm in LBJSC 3-13 and Trans*cending Limitations: Student Panel on Creating Spaces For Trans* Identified Students and Allies moderated by Dr. Brandon Beck in LBJSC 3-14.

I wanted to see the student panel, so LBJSC 3-14 was where I ended up.   It was an interesting discussion of Texas State students that lasted right up until the scheduled 2:45 PM end time and our return to the ballroom. 

Ten minutes later a panel comprised of people who have helped create change on collegiate and school district level policy answered questions from the audience until 3:45 PM.  . 

Then came the What's Next? remarks from Jenifer, followed by the closing remarks and thank yous from Josephine.   And as quickly as it had started, the 6th annual Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit at Texas State came to an end. 

The Houston contingent on our way back home stopped in Luling to chow down on some tasty barbecue before we played tag with each other on I-10 east all the way back to H-town.  I got to ride with Nikki on the way back so she wouldn't be making that drive by herself..

This TTNS broke its all attendance record set at the 2010 event at Rice University with 82 people in attendance.   Two attendees thought it was important enough to make a 495 mile drive (one way) from West Texas A&M in Canyon, TX to the San Marcos campus of Texas State. 

It also exposed the event to Central Texas, got it out of the Houston-Gulf Coast area where it was founded, and fulfilled the dream of founder Josephine Tittsworth that the TTNS be an event held on college campuses around the state to discuss these transgender-specific higher education issues     

As to what Texas school will host the 7th annual TTNS?   Good question.   If you're interested in hosting it, send the proposal.  But you know I'll pass on that news as to the 2015 host school as soon as I receive it.

Rice University Makes Princeton Review List of LGBT Friendly Colleges

As a proud UH Cougar, hating Rice University when we play them in any sport is Job One. 

But there's no shade involved when it comes to discussing this remarkable accomplishment by our brothers and sisters on that century old campus.

In the recent 2105 update by the Princeton Review of the 20 most friendly/unfriendly LGBT campuses in the country, H-town's Rice University cracked the Top 20 and made the 'Most Friendly LGBT Campus' list 

Rice was the only Texas school on the 'Most Friendly LGBT Campus' list at number 20, with Stanford University topping it this year.  And yeah, I question Smith College's #4 ranking when they are and have been hostile to the enrollment of transfeminine students. 

In case you're wondering who made the LGBT unfriendly list, Baylor and Texas A&M made it on the 20 most unfriendly LGBT schools list for the second consecutive year. 

I'm happy there are no HBCU's on that Top 20 LGBT unfriendly list, but disappointed none have made the Top 20 friendly list either.  

Time to get busy changing that perception HBCU's.  Black LGBT students exist, and failure to deal with that reality will cost you in the long term.

The Princeton Review, not affiliated with the more famous Ivy League university, since 1992 has published an annual review of 379 colleges based on student surveys in 62 categories. 

The annual survey asked 130,000 students at 379 top colleges to rate their schools on dozens of topics and report on their experiences at them. Students were asked 80 questions about their school and themselves during the 2013-14 and/or previous two school years. An average of 343 students per school were surveyed. 

“Our purpose is not to crown one college ‘best’ overall or to rank these distinctive schools 1 to 379 on any single topic,” said Princeton Review senior vice president Robert Franek. “We present our 62 ranking lists to give applicants the broader base of campus feedback to choose the college that’s best for them.”

So yes, this is a BFD for Rice and megacongratulations to them for cracking the Top 20 on the 'Most Friendly LGBT Schools' list.  

It's not only something for you Rice Owls to pop your collars about, but gives Rice LGBT alums like Mayor Annise Parker and us TBLG Houstonians something else to brag about concerning our hometown in our national community circles. 

It's also giving us another reason to fight hard to ensure the HERO is a permanent fixture in our Houston Code of Ordinances so that Houston gets the benefits of the future LGBT kids drawn to Rice to get that quality college education on an LGBT friendly campus.

Andraya Williams Update

'Appears as though the CPCC peeps seem to think that if they keep stonewalling instead of coming to grips with the fact they have seriously screwed up by disrespecting Andraya and resolving the matter, this will all go away.'
--TransGriot, April 7, 2014   'Tired of Black TBLG Women Getting Harassed For Going To The Bathroom.'

Since it's been a little quiet in Charlotte concerning this case, decided to check in with Andraya to see if she's received justice yet from Central Piedmont Community College for their transphobic sins or are they doing what I suspected was their game plan back in April. 

She confirmed to me they were still stonewalling the situation.  CPCC has not apologized, nor made changes to their nondiscrimination policies to make them more inclusive for trans and gender variant students either.. 

Okay, so that's the way they want to play this.    For starters, here's the petition calling for CPCC to do the right thing, apologize, and take the necessary step to respect trans and gender non conforming students on campus.  

They can do it the easy way or have the legal hammed dropped upon them

But will be keeping an eye on this situation in Charlotte.

Xavier University LA Is Majoring In Transphobia

While positive trans friendly changes are happening at my alma mater UH and up I-10 at LSU, seems as though the opposite is transpiring at Xavier University in New Orleans.

Was sent this interesting screenshot from L'lerret Ailith of a ballot question that came out today on the XULA campus, and is due tomorrow with this interesting Question 17:  

Article VIII. Elections: Section Two- Eligibility (add Mr Xavier where Miss Xavier appears: Gender requirement)  1. Candidates for Miss Xavier/ Class Miss must be (A) female or (B) born female

In addition to the underhanded and duplicitous way this ballot question was rolled out by the Xavier SGA, L'lerret had much to say about life on the Xavier campus as a girl like us and the shady ballot question.

***

Please share this with the world so that everyone can see how blatantly transphobic Xavier University of Louisiana is.   I have been transitioning in college and as of late have been asking for more trans* amenities so I am lead to feel like this is a response to me living in my truth publicly and proudly.

They have released a ballot for the student body to vote on amendments to the constitution and one of them is to choose whether Miss. Xavier or any class Miss has to be BORN female or not.

They are publicly supporting the fate of persecution, ostracism, and discrimination of gender variant individuals. My human rights is held to a vote and majority rules.
Not only has the school simply tolerated me and not made changes I've requested (I.e gender neutral restrooms, trans* friendly housing policies and health insurance, the ability to form a GSA, etc) they now choose to publicly humiliate and subjugate my community.

I spoke to the SGA president (Javon Bracy) and she told me the word of this had been around campus for a while and so she can't do anything about it so I've opted to get community support and take public action. Help me fight this. Fight for gender equity and trans* inclusion. Fight oppression. Share this! Spread the word!:

***

Doing that for you right now L'lerret.   This is a concrete example of the ripple effects of the transphobia and anti-trans hate injected into the Catholic Church in 2003 by Dr. Paul McHugh at the Vatican level filtering down to the flock. 

XULA also has the other dynamic coursing through its history of being an HBCU as well.  

The city of New Orleans has had a non-discrimination law that covers gender identity on the books since 1998, but Xavier seems as though it is determined to create a campus environment hostile to trans and gender variant people in a city and region chock full of them.

Xavier says in its mission statement that 'the ultimate purpose of the University is to contribute to the promotion of a more just and humane society by preparing its students to assume roles of leadership and service in a global society.   This preparation takes place in a diverse learning and teaching environment that incorporates all relevant educational means, including research and community service.'

Looks like XULA is forgetting along with its SGA that trans and gender variant students are part of that global society in New Orleans, around the world and on the XULA campus.   By running roughshod over their human rights, your alleged diverse learning and teaching environment is failing to take their existence and humanity into account. 

UH Josephine Tittsworth Act Town Hall Meeting

I've been saying to the UHD Gators during my last several visits on their campus that I've spent more time visiting One Main Street than I have on my alma mater's campus since I came back home in 2010.

Well, seems like that imbalance of visits to the UH campus versus UHD is starting to rapidly change in the other direction.

Last week I was honored to be invited to speak at the Britney Cosby and Crystal Jackson vigil held at the AD Bruce Religion Center on campus.  

This week I got a chance to finally see the newly renovated UH Student Center and attend a town hall meeting yesterday afternoon in a packed SGA Senate Chambers.

The town hall was called to give the UH community an opportunity to discuss the Josephine Tittsworth Act.  The UH SGA proposed this piece of legislation that seeks to have the University of Houston follow its existing EEO and non discrimination policy by allowing trans* UH students to update their university identification with their preferred name, discerned gender and titles. 

Shouldn't be that controversial, right?   Well, one unidentified UH senator has been spreading lies and falsehoods about the Tittsworth bill and gotten the frats and sororities stirred up in the process.

A panel comprised of UH LGBT Resource Center head Lorraine Schroeder, UH SGA senators Guillermo Lopez and James Lee, UH SGA President Charles Haston, SGA Senator emeritus Josephine Tittsworth and 2014 Trans 100 honoree and UH senior Lou Weaver spent two minutes each making initial statements dispelling the myths and lies that had arisen concerning the Tittsworth bill before opening the floor to written questions.  

While the town hall was surprisingly civil, two of the questions asked were the highly offensive to the trans community bathroom predator and sexual offender ones I hear far too often from GOP operatives opposing trans human rights laws.  It not only made my eyes visibly roll and loudly scoff upon hearing them, it also made me wonder if there were campus Republicans in the room trying to stir up 'fear and smear' transphobic trouble.

Before the town hall concluded after 30 minutes,  Haston reminded everyone that diversity on the UH campus is not just ethnic diversity, but also includes diversity of opinions and thought and LGBT diversity.

Since I wasn't in any hurry to head back home right away, I consented to an interview along with Josephine about the Act with Daily Cougar reporters Kelly Schaffer and Cara Smith.  We talked about Houston and UH trans history, and discussed the positive effects UH could expect from the Tittsworth Act should it gain SGA approval.  

I also had a chance to talk to several cis and trans UH students and talk a walk around the newly renovated building that is way different from the 1967 UC I was familiar with before heading home.

Will keep you posted on the developments concerning the Josephine Tittsworth Act as it moves toward a final vote.      
 

Josephine Tittsworth Act UH Town Hall Wednesday

The University of Houston SGA has proposed a bill that seeks to have the University of Houston follow existing EEO and non discrimination policy by allowing students to update their university identification with their preferred name, discerned gender and titles.  

The bill is named the Josephine Tittsworth Act after my awesome homegirl, fellow Cougar and who while on the UH campus was an SGA Senator.

It's expected to get voted on April 16, but in advance of the vote, to do a little education on the issue, a town hall meeting will be conducted on Wednesday in the UC North Senate Chambers in the UC North starting at 5:30 PM

The Josephine Tittsworth Act will be discussed and what it means for student safety, academic success, and fulfilling our Nondiscrimination Policy's promise.  As a Cougar I support the passage of it and plan on being at the town hall to report on what happens.  

UH-Downtown Gender Neutral Bathroom Proposal Up For Vote

If Kristopher Sharp and the students of UH-Downtown get their way on Friday, UHD will become the first school in the Houston area and the second in the state of Texas with gender neutral restrooms.

A proposal is being considered by the UHD student government association on January 10 that would designate two bathrooms (one male, one female) in each of UHD's three buildings as gender neutral restrooms open to anyone.

UHD student body Vice President Kristopher Sharp is pushing the initiative after hearing of trans and gender variant students being either harassed or made to feel so uncomfortable they refrain from using the on campus facilities.

Ever since Sharp's election as student body vice president last April, he has been busy addressing some of the groups that have felt marginalized on campus versus the rest of the student population.

Sharp helped create a GLBT resource center on the UH-Downtown campus, amend the nondiscrimination policy to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the student handbook, and create a diversity committee in the student government focused on finding underrepresented populations, such as international, veteran and LGBT students. A similar diversity committee was also created for administration for faculty, staff and students to look at diversity issues at the university.

"We began to see that, in many ways, our university was disproportionally leaving out the transgender population, which we have a sizable transgender population on campus,” Sharp said.

Sharp wrote up the proposal after hearing stories about a transfeminine student being confronted twice in the women's restroom.   It also has the advantage of being a quick and cheap solution since it requires only a new sign (and possibly instructions) on the door.

The proposal also affects only six of the 60 bathrooms on the UHD campus.

University officials have been working to address the problem by building lockable single stall restrooms of which the first is scheduled to open in February according to John Hudson, director of UHD's new Center for Student Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

"Others we hope would come on line later in the year," Hudson said in a Houston Chronicle interview.  The administration's plan calls for a total of five private restrooms - one in each main building, one near the auditorium and one at the sports center, he said.

Good luck and hope that proposal gets the unanimous vote and passage it deserves..

UT Fans Welcome Their New Coach To Austin

As I've stated in other UT related blog posts, I'm not a Texas Longhorns fan because I've had negative run-ins with elements of their arrogant and racist fanbase while I was a student at UH during the SWC days. 

In fact, it makes my day when I see their precious $140 million dollar football team of five star recruits get its collective butt kicked by teams that have less cashflow and had to work harder to get their players 

But did have to comment on Charlie Strong becoming the first African-American head coach of their football program.  Word is that Strong has accepted their offer and is about to sign a contract that pays him $5 million a year over the next five years to break the UT coaching color line.  

Congratulations and good luck, brother, you're gonna need it. 

LSUFreek put up at his blog this awesome GIF of the reaction that Strong's hiring as the Longhorn head coach has generated with elements of UT's demanding fanbase. 

.

And yeah, also not happy about the problematic reporting coming out of the Dallas-Ft Worth area about it too. 

2013 UH Cougar Watch-5-0!

The good news is that H-town has one unbeaten football team playing inside Loop 610, and nope it ain't the guys who get paid to play in Reliant Stadium.

The Cougars once again played some serious defense, forcing 4 turnovers to add to their NCAA leading +14 turnover ratio and limited the Memphis offense to five field goals.

UH needed the defensive bailout, because the Air Raid offense took awhile to get going with Memphis' number 15 FBS ranked defense holding the usually high octane Cougar offense to a season low 247 total yards. 

UH got the scoring party started at BBVA Compass Stadium early with a 17 yard O'Korn to Daniel Spencer touchdown strike on their opening drive after Memphis turned the ball over.

But after that initial UH touchdown drive, the Coogs couldn't muster any sustained offense.  The Tigers narrowed the gap to 7-6 before a Leone second quarter field goal pushed the lead to 10-6 and Memphis got another one from Jake Elliott to narrow it to 10-9 at the half. 

The Cougar offensive struggles continued into the second half and Memphis eventually took a 15-10 lead in the third quarter before a 33 yard goal line catch by Xavier Maxwell seat up the first of Kenneth Farrow's two scoring touchdowns. 

Welcome back, Kenneth! Boy have they missed you in red zone situations.  The subsequent successful two point conversion gave them a three point lead before UH put the game away in the fourth quarter for the 25-15 win. 

With the victory UH not only matched their disappointing win total for last season, but go to 5-0 to start a season for only the fourth time in school history.  They also joined Louisville and South Florida at 2-0 for the AAC lead.

“There’s nobody in our program satisfied winning five games,” UH coach Tony Levine said in a Houston Chronicle interview. “There is nobody in that locker room — players, coaches and staff — that is driving home saying one more win and we’re going to a bowl game. That’s not our focus.”

Especially since the Coogs are now in an AQ conference and the winner of the AAC title, at least for this season automatically qualifies for a BCS bowl. 

The undefeated Cougars get tested next week when those other Cougars from BYU come to Reliant Stadium followed by a AAC road trip to New Jersey to play Rutgers.

Fayetteville State University To Become Third HBCU With LGBT Center

There are 105 HBCU's in the United States (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and only two of them have LGBT centers on their campuses.  And no, those schools aren't the elite ones like Howard or  Spelman, but Bowie State University and  North Carolina Central University.

I'm happy to hear that the pathetic lack of LGBT centers on HBCU campuses is starting to be addressed by this generation of TBLG college students seeking to make the HBCU campuses they matriculate on more conducive to their needs and less scary places to navigate. 

I talked to students at Florida A&M University during last year's OUT on the Hill.  One of their goals was getting an LGBT center established on their Tallahassee, FL campus as part of a package of reforms in the wake of the Robert Champion hazing death that shut down the FAMU Marching 100 band until this season.   

I'm also happy to report that a third HBCU, Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, NC will have the grand re-opening of an LGBT center on their campus fittingly on October 11, National Coming Out Day. 

The goals of the FSU Safezone Office is to raise cultural competence of faculty and staff on LGBTQ issues, provide visible support to the LGBTQ population on campus, educate students on issues facing LGBTQ people and retain LGBT students.

If Fayetteville State University sounds familiar to you long time TransGriot readers, it's because back in November 1995 it was the same HBCU that discriminated against #girllikeus Sharon Franklin Brown, who was working as a residence director of a women's dorm at the time when it was discovered she was a trans woman.    

Look like the campus climate at Fayetteville State University has come a long way since that less than honorable day

As I have said before and will happily state for the record again, HBCU's need to send the unmistakable message to their faculty, current and future students, alumni, and the communities they serve that discrimination against LGBT students on HBCU campuses will not be tolerated, policies and nondiscrimination statements to back it up, they have inclusive and welcoming campuses, and they are willing to include LGBT students in their ongoing missions to uplift the race through educational achievement.

Fayetteville Stae University has decided to do just that..   

Smith College, Don't Assume The Trans Community Forgot About What Happened To Calliope

With the 2013-14 academic school year about to commence either this month or in September on many college campuses, I not only wanted to take a moment to give an early salute to the transpeople in the Class of 2014 that will be beginning their senior years on many campuses, but salute the class of 2017 that will be starting their freshman year on campuses across the nation.

I also wanted to make sure that as the summer vacation season winds down and fall approaches in several weeks, that we don't forget about a college freshman named Calliope Wong that will not be walking the campus of Smith College where she wanted to go.  She is matriculating elsewhere on another college campus due to hypocritical transphobia in their application process. 

In the wake of the drama that Smith College's rejection of Wong caused including this Change.org petition that has accumulated almost 5,000 signatures, the Northampton, MA based college stated they would put together a panel in the Fall 2013 semester to look at the issue.   

Smith's dean of admissions, Debra Shaver, announced a committee would form to address the needs of prospective trans students at Smith. The committee will begin meeting in September, and in the interim, Smith will stop denying admissions to trans girls and women listed as male on their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms, which is what happened to Wong.

Well, the start of the Fall 2013 semester classes on September 3 is rapidly approaching, and don't think for a moment the trans community, Smith students, Smith alums who support trans feminine inclusion, transpeople in Western Mass and our allies forgot what happened to Calliope or what was said back in May. .

Our eyes will definitely be upon you starting September 3, and do not doubt for a moment we won't be paying attention to what does (or doesn't) happen on your campus on the issue of trans feminine inclusion on your campus.

The trans community is deadly serious in wanting this issue affirmatively resolved.  We will be paying attention to whether the committee Dean of Admissions Debra Shaver alluded to in May will actually be formed and do the hard solid thinking and work to solve the problem.

Or is it as we suspect you were simply engaged in selling woof tickets in order to ratchet down the increasing negative publicity Smith College was getting at the time concerning the issue. 

We trans bloggers will be paying attention, too to see which scenario plays out this fall. 


TransGriot Note: This post is also up at Original Plumbing.

5th Annual Texas Transgender Non Discrimination Summit Today

At the moment I'm getting my beauty sleep in preparation for a long day on the campus of my alma mater for the 5th annual Texas Transgender Non Discrimination Summit at the University of Houston today and Saturday July 20.

This is not only one of my fave local events, it's one that for the first time since I came back home I'm actually taking the plunge of not just reporting on it as I've done since 2010, but teach a seminar too.

The seminar I'm teaching is going to be on Contemporary Texas Trans History.  I have about 45 minutes to cover the last 40 years of Texas transgender history.   I have a fascinating and interesting story to tell and I'm looking forward to doing so.

It's not too late for you to join us, so head on over to the University Classroom and Business Building behind the University Center on the Calhoun street side on the campus and join us starting at 8:30 AM CDT 

And are you doing the chocolate break again this year? 
 

NCCU Opens Second LGBT Student Center On An HBCU Campus

Bowie State University in Bowie, MD opened the first LGBT Student Center on an HBCU campus last year.   The second is now on the North Carolina Central University campus.in Durham, NC.

On April 9 NCCU opened their LGBT Student Resource Center, located in G-64 of the Alphonso Elder Student Union.

n addition to making NCCU the second HBCU to have a dedicated LGBT center on campus, it has the distinction of being the first to do so on a North Carolina based HBCU campus.

The center is supported by Creating Open Lives For Real Success (C.O.L.O.R.S.) and Dominating Overly Motivated Studs (D.O.M.S.) and overseen by Director of Student Life Assessment and C.O.L.O.R.S. advisor Tia Doxey.


Ihe NCCU LGBT Student Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 AM-5 PM.  It is designed so students can connect with other members of the local LGBT community and learn about their culture and identity. The research center contains resources students cn take advantage of such as an LGBT support network, the LGBT lecture series, educational and social programming and a library stocked with LGBT themed materials.

Doxey gave the credit for attaining the space for the new center to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Dr. Kevin Rome and the Empowerment Committee. "He worked diligently to find a space and to really push the envelope,” said Doxey. “We wanted a space where we can grow.”

Doxey's five year plan for growing the center includes getting permanent staff, offering more programming, reaching out to more NCCU faculty and staff, working with the school to create an inclusive environment for LGBT students on campus and eventually moving into a larger space.

Congratulations NCCU.  May the center grow and prosper to where you'll need that expanded space sooner rather than later. 

What Would Spelman College Do In This Trans Feminine Student Situation?

“Schools should be focused on building our next generation of leaders, not discriminating against them." Calliope Wong

I had an interesting conversation with Samantha Master the other day about getting HBCU's to recognize that Black TBLG students exist.   HBCU law schools are ahead of the game when it comes to having non discrimination policies that included gender identity and expression but the HBCU main campuses that host these law schools surprisingly don't. 

We discussed how it would be in their best short and long term interests to ensure their campuses were open, inclusive and affirming places for TBLG students and they needed to get busy enacting policies and procedures to make that happen.   And yes, as a group they also needed to improve on the sorry situation of having only one of the 105 HBCU's (Bowie State University) having a dedicated LGBT center on campus.

Our conversation turned to transteen Calliope Wong and her recently being turned down twice by Smith College for enrollment while hypocritically allowing transmen to matriculate on campus if they transition after they have been admitted.  Smith College according to Dean of Admissions Debra Shaver and HuffPo Gay Voices has put together a committee to look at the issues that affect trans applicants. 

The Smith committee will begin its work at the start of the 2013-14 academic year in September and includes students.   The students involved on this committee have indicated that Smith would stop using the gender marker on FAFSA applications when evaluating trans students for admission.

While I hope the situation at Smith is substantive change and has a positive resolution for future trans applicants to the college, mine and Samantha's HBCU centric discussion put me in 'What if?' hard solid thinking mode. 

What would happen if you flipped the racial script and instead of Calliope Wong, had a bright African-American trans feminine student named Kendra Nicole Williams in this mix?  

Kendra wants to attend the elite African-American women's HBCU Spelman College because it's her dream school and applies.  She transitioned at age 14 and has a supportive family who helped her live her trans teen feminine life.   Kendra excelled academically in her high school and has begun the process of changing her identity documents. 

But because her family doesn't have a spare $20K in the bank genital surgery is out of the question right now because they see it as a bigger priority to use whatever extra money they have to help Kendra get the quality college education she needs.   


How would Spelman handle that situation I just outlined?  Would Kendra be accepted into the Spelman Class of 2017 with open arms or would they fumble the ball just as badly as Smith did?  

Atlanta based Spelman, which was founded in 1881, is one of the oldest historically Black women's colleges in the nation. I chose Spelman for this thought exercise because it is analogous in its elite status to Smith. in addition to it being among the nation's top ten best women's colleges as ranked by Forbes magazine, it has prestigious notable alumni and faculty.

For the sake of this exercise in hard solid thinking, let's assume Spelman fumbled the ball and refused to admit Kendra for the same reason Smith did.  It denied admission to Kendra based on a mismatched FAFSA gender code.   How much media negativity do you think Spelman would get right now because of that decision? 

I submit it would be ten times worse than what Smith got.   

In those media stories roasting Spelman over the coals you would see the ''Blacks are more homophobic' meme repeatedly come up in whatever stores they chose to write about it in addition to pointing out they are across the street from all-male Morehouse College and talking about its homophobic fails over the years.  

The mainstream media seems to take perverse pleasure in flipping the journalistic middle finger at POC trans women, and you can bet their penchant for doing so would come into play here.

Don't even get me started about the Black gossip blogosphere and the transphobic ignorance they gleefully display on a regular basis.  You can count on a few hip hop formatted radio station morning shows jumping into this transphobic media mix and yours truly having to spend a few weeks putting some outlets on blast for the negative and sensationalistic reporting that some newspapers of record would aim at Kendra just for grins in addition to asking Spelman what's up with not admitting Kendra?

And to tweak the hard solid thinking on trans issues still further, what if the Kendra student in my earlier example was a cis female who enrolls and a year later transitions to male?   I have heard of this situation occurring at Smith and other Seven Sisters institutions but haven't heard if it has occurred at Spelman yet.

What would Spelman do when (not if) that happens?  Do they have non-discrimination policies and support structures in place to make it a welcoming environment for that now transmasculine student?

So let's end the 'What If' exercise for now and move on to the known quantities about Spelman.  Beverly Daniel Tatum, the current Spelman president has a well earned reputation of being a supportive ally on the SGL issues.  Spelman has been ahead of the curve in terms of being a role model for HBCU's that embrace tackling LGBT issues.   

In addition to Spelman having AFREKETE, the highly regarded LGBT and ally organization on its campus, it was the host campus for the groundbreaking Audre Lorde Historically Black College and University Summit on April 29, 2011.   The one day summit was spearheaded by Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, the founding director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center, attended by representatives of nine HBCU campuses from across the nation and was enthusiastically supported by President Tatum.

It focused on LGBT issues within African-American and HBCU communities and included a session on LGBT organizing paneled by the Human Rights Campaign's Deputy Director for Diversity Donna Payne and National Black Justice Coalition CEO Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks.  

But I don't know as of yet what President Tatum's stances are concerning trans issues and I would love to have that conversation with her.  Spelman despite being the undisputed leader on LGBT issues in HBCU collegiate world still as of this writing doesn't have a dedicated LGBT resource center on its campus like Bowie State does..   

I believe that in my earlier example, based on the groundbreaking work that Spelman is already doing that my fictional trans student Kendra would be admitted.   She might have a few issues she'd have to deal with like what would happen if she wanted to pledge one of the Divine Nine sororities on campus or the possibility of somebody transphobically tripping in the dorms because of her pre-operative status, but in terms of getting a quality education in an HBCU setting as a trans student, she'd probably be in the best place for it on paper.

Trans students will bring some issues to the table that may seems daunting to a women's college but are manageable with thoughtful preparation, clear enforced policies and procedures, and established support systems.  Most importantly, they have administrations that make it crystal clear discrimination aimed at trans and SGL students will not be tolerated.     


What I said to close out my 'HBCU's Better Recognize Black TBLG Students Exist' post still applies a year later. 

HBCU's need to send the unmistakable message to their faculty, current and future students, alumni, and the communities they serve that discrimination against LGBT students on HBCU campuses will not be tolerated.   HBCU's need to show they have inclusive and welcoming campuses, and they are willing to include LGBT students in their ongoing missions to uplift the race through educational achievement.

I believe that Spelman and the other Black HBCU women's colleges such as Bennett are taking what happened recently at Smith as a cautionary tale.  I hope they are engaging in hard solid thinking to avoid the public relations nightmare Smith fell into because of the lack of admissions procedures and policies in place for trans feminine students.  

Based on the work they've already done, I'm confident Spelman will be prepared for the inevitable day when a Black trans woman comes application in hand to fulfill her dream of getting an education on their distinguished HBCU campus and become one of the exceptional Black women Spelman College has produced for over a century.