In This Issue Current Issue Archives

April, 2007

GLBT Campus Matters - April, 2007 - Full Issue PDF
…

Supporting the transgender experience
Disclosing one’s gender identity—as opposed to sexual orientation—is an issue faced by transgender people on campus, one that can be smoothed by professionals in student services. Students, faculty or staff considering transitioning from a female body to male, or vice versa, must--by the very nature of this decision--disclose an essence of their soul to others. Gay, lesbian and bisexual people, on the other hand, at least have an option of hiding, or closeting, themselves so as not to face potential disapproval and worse from family, friends and society as a whole.

From the Editor
Perhaps too often we have ignored the unique experience of transgender students, faculty and staff, tossing the T on the end of GLB with nary a thought. Although we’ve done stories on policies and physical spaces that transgender persons need on campus to ensure equal access, too often the soul of the decision to transition has been slighted.

Transgender Terminology
Cisgender: A person who is gender-typical or non-transgender. Crossdresser: A person who, regardless of motivation, wears clothes, makeup, etc. that are considered by the culture to be appropriate for another gender but not one’s own (preferred term to “transvestite”).

Disclosing as transgender
Campus Matters asked the following questions abiout disclosing as transgender to Brett-Genny Janiczek Beemyn, director at The Stonewall Center at the University of Massachusetts. Beemyn, an advisory board member for GLBT Campus Matters, can be reached at brettgenny@stuaf.umass.edu.

Catholic and Queer? LGBTQ at DePaul University
By By Gary P. Cestaro
DePaul University in the heart of Chicago is currently the nation’s largest Catholic University. In 2005, a group of faculty from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (LA&S) successfully proposed an interdisciplinary minor in LGBTQ Studies—the first ever at a Catholic institution. Creating a formal curriculum in LGBTQ Studies at DePaul was in many ways merely the natural result of growing student demand for courses and broad faculty expertise in the discipline.

Campus Pride to host summer leadership camp July 24-July 29
Campus Pride is holding its first summer leadership camp for LGBT and ally college students July 24 through July 29 at Towson University in Towson, Maryland. The camp aims to develop stronger undergraduate student leaders who learn the skills needed to make campuses safer and friendlier toward LGBT students.

“That’s so Gay!”
By By Joseph Bertolino
“That’s so gay!” The statement echoed throughout campus. In a split second, a member of the campus radio station had uttered these words while on the air. The statement was made in passing, a quip in response to a bad joke. It was not malicious, it was not mean spirited, and it was said as if one were asking a friend to simply “pass the salt.” Yet in this case, innocent or not, the salt found its way into an open wound.