November is Transgender Awareness Month; a time to celebrate, honor, and support the transgender community, and raise awareness of the issues they face. The celebration culminates with Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, set aside to remember lives lost to anti-transgender violence. This week’s Tips focuses on providing active support to transgender faculty, staff, and students in our Indiana University Bloomington community.
Upcoming Events
Dec 03
Jan 14
Feb 04
Feb 25
Mar 04
Mar 24
Apr 01
Apr 15
Understanding the Challenge: Reducing Transphobia
Supporting our transgender colleagues and students requires an understanding of the challenges they face. Research from Columbia University's Teachers College shows that transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) people face systemic and interpersonal discrimination that puts them at a higher risk of mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and suicide.1
Data from the Williams Institute show the challenges faced by transgender people in Higher Education. Fifty-five percent of transgender people reported poor mental health in school, 38% experienced bullying and harassment in higher education institutions, and 32% reported they were unfairly treated by faculty and staff. Over a quarter of transgender people in higher education said that unfair treatment and bullying due to their identity affected their academic success.2
Transgender students face significant financial aid barriers due to family estrangement. Issues with gender markers and documentation mismatches also delay access to aid. These challenges make paying for college difficult and force transgender students to navigate complex exclusionary systems alone.3
A review of workplace experiences found that transgender employees encounter unique stressors, including discrimination during transition, and pressure to manage their identities and behaviors to cover their transgender identity.4 These experiences cause stress resulting from stigma, prejudice, and discrimination.
These are systemic issues that affect the sense of belonging, academic, and professional success.
However, research also identifies powerful protective factors: organizational support through inclusive policies and opt-in training that affirm diverse identities and interpersonal support from colleagues through empathy to support transgender colleagues.4
Actionable Evidence-Based Tips for Collective Support
Creating an inclusive campus where everyone is accepted is a shared responsibility. Here are evidence-based, actionable tips for all members of the IU-B community:
Normalize the use of pronouns: Use your pronouns in your email signature, on your syllabus, and when introducing yourself in meetings (e.g., “I am Jean Darnes, and my pronouns are she/her”). This normalizes the practice for inclusivity so that it doesn't single out transgender individuals as the only ones who need to share their pronouns. This creates space for others to share theirs and makes everybody comfortable. The use of pronouns by cisgender people helps reduce the assumption of gender, which leads to misgendering.5
Be Responsible for Your Own Education: Do not place the burden of education on your transgender colleagues or students. Take the initiative to learn about the issues and familiarize yourself with basic terminology, and understand the difference between gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. According to HRC, relying on your transgender colleague, friend, or student to inform and educate you about the transgender community places an emotional burden on them.6 Do your own research with thousands of resources available to help you understand transgender identities and experiences. This helps you become an active supporter of acceptance and belonging on our campus.
Advocate for systemic change: While interpersonal respect is vital, we must also address the structural interventions that create a truly inclusive climate. Use your voice in faculty councils, staff meetings, and shared governance to advocate for policies like expansion of all gender restrooms, health insurance packages that cover the health needs of transgender persons, facilitation of training that addresses gender identity separately from sexual orientation. Research from the University of Minnesota demonstrates that inclusive, protective institutional policies reduce experiences of discrimination and improve mental health outcomes for transgender and nonbinary people.7
Challenge micro-aggressions: When you hear an anti-trans joke, dismissive comment, or intentional misgendering, speak up: a simple firm correction like “I know you were trying to be funny, but that stereotype is hurtful,” redirects the conversation and shows collective support. Speaking up can become a catalyst for others to do the same. Active intervention disrupts the normalization of transphobia and signals that inclusivity is a collective value.
Tips for Specific Roles
For Faculty:
- Incorporate transgender perspectives and scholarship into curricula where appropriate.
- Create inclusive classroom environments by sharing pronouns, using preferred names, and addressing transphobia when it arises.
- Mentor transgender students and early-career scholars.
- Advocate in faculty governance for transgender-inclusive policies.
For Staff:
- Ensure your services are accessible and welcoming to transgender community members.
- Review forms, communications, and procedures for unnecessary gender markers or binary assumptions.
- Attend training to build cultural competence.
- Connect transgender community members with appropriate resources.
For Graduate Students:
- Support transgender peers in your program and research groups.
- Address exclusion or bias when you witness it.
- Include transgender perspectives in your research where relevant.
- Participate in departmental diversity initiatives.
Why is this important?
Building a common ground that puts humanity first at IU-B requires ensuring that every member of our community has the resources and environment necessary to thrive and not just survive. The action tips are part of our commitment to acceptance and belonging. By taking collective, continuous, intentional action, we can reduce transphobia and empower everyone to excel.
Resources
YouTube: Trans Students in Higher Ed: Current Challenges and Pathways to Inclusion- This video by the Williams Institute at UCLA, involved discussion by panelists about the growing challenges transgender college students face from state laws and hate groups, and outlines steps schools can take to better support, protect, and include them.
Ted Talk: Transgender & Non-Binary Gender Diversity: Going Beyond Names & Pronouns- Heidi Breaux explains that true support for transgender people in academia goes beyond using correct names and pronouns, it involves challenging bias, avoiding tokenism, and creating genuinely safe, inclusive campus spaces.
Article: Trans Perspective in Academia- Two doctoral transgender students share their experience, challenges, and support system in the academia as transgender persons.