Q. Is there a good statement that I can use as to why we include the "T" in our GLBT programs?

A. The following statement is taken from GenderPAC's position paper: Including Gender Protection in ENDA.

"Many gay activists and organizations have continued to assert that gender is 'not a gay issue.' This seems a strange proposition in light of two facts. First, so-called stone butches, diesel dykes, nelly fems, and drag people were among the first to riot at Stonewall, thereby launching the modern gay movement from which such activists speak. Second, gender-different queers have always been the visible face the gay community shows a hostile straight world, and many have the scars to prove it. These gays were the 'visible queers' who were most often picked out for harassment: they were the ones our mothers warned us about, the ones we all 'just knew' were queer, the ones we taunted after school, and the ones most often beaten up on the streets by gay bashers. So it remains today.

[The issue of being "gender-different" is inextricably a gay issue simply because of] the radical inseparability of gender and gayness: significant numbers of gay people always have been, and probably always will be, gender-different.at any gathering of more than a half-dozen gay people, a substantial minority number of gays, lesbians and bisexuals, perhaps as many as a third, differ visibly from the norm in their expression of gender. In fact, from one perspective, the very act of loving someone of the same sex is in itself the most profound divergence from one's prescribed gender role."

[This question was answered by Dr. Saralyn Chesnut, Director of Emory University's Office of Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Life]

For more information on transgender terminology, check out

• GenderPac's Workplace Fairness Project - Corporate area of their website has information that might readily be repurposed for use on college and university campuses: http://www.gpac.org/workplace/wpf_packet_corp.html
• Angela C. Nichols recommends this website for definitions: http://www.firelily.com/gender/resources/defs.html

You may be interested in these related FAQs:

What kind of programs and resources are available for trans students?

What polices can be put into place to accommodate transgendered students in campus housing?

How can an LGBT office serve intersexed people? Are they included under the "T"? Are there specific suggestions of speakers or printed materials we should acquire?

Take me to this section (choose one below): LGBT Campus Offices/Centers About the Consortium Our email list Resources Frequently Asked Questions Job announcements Meetings Fundraising Search the Consortium site Feedback