This guide has been designed to help staff and students at The Open University with their awareness of challenges that are often faced by trans students. We have also included a glossary to help you get to grips with terms you may not be familiar with.
Everyone has a right to privacy; this includes the right to keep their trans status private. A trans person’s previous name, gender assigned at birth or anything else regarding their transition constitutes private information, and to share this information without their knowledge or consent is a breach of their confidentiality. If a student discloses their trans status, it is important to discuss confidentiality with them and who they would like information to be shared with; whilst a student may be comfortable sharing information with you, they may not be ready to share this with everyone, so it is important to clarify to avoid ‘outing’ them before they are ready.
Transitioning can broadly be described in two ways; social and medical. A social transition is generally the first port of call for a trans person. It is different for everyone and may include a name and/or pronoun change, using toilets/changing facilities appropriate to their gender, dressing as their identified gender etc. A social transition may or may not be part of a gender reassignment process, and it’s important to recognise that a student may just be experimenting with their gender identity rather than making a decision to transition. In either case, a non-judgemental attitude, support and advice for them will be vital.
A medical transition is generally done through a gender identity clinic. It can take years, or be very expensive if done privately. Medical treatment is provided in a series of phases that include: a psychological assessment, medical treatment that could include hormone blockers or hormones, and gender reassignment surgeries. Not all trans people have the same medical treatment, or have medical treatment at all, and it is important to remember and consider this when people express their intentions of a potential medical transition.
Bustle
Why we need pronouns
The Important Reason You Should Put Your Pronouns In Your Email Signature.
www.bustle.com
OU Life
The use of pronouns - available only to OU Staff
How stating our pronouns can help trans and non-binary colleagues.
www.oulife.com
Pronouns Matter
Resources on personal pronouns
Pronouns Matter explain why it’s inclusive to use someone’s correct personal pronouns.
www.pronouns.org.uk
International Pronouns Day
Third Wednesday of October
International Pronouns Day began in 2018 and takes place on the 3rd Wednesday of October each year.
www.pronouns.org/day
A video from Pronouns Matter
Trans students explain why pronouns are important
Various videos on the use of pronouns.
www.pronouns.org/resources
Misgendering
For people who are transgender, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming, coming into their authentic gender can be an important and affirming step in life. Sometimes, people continue to refer to a person using terms related to how they identified before transition. This is known as misgendering.
Misgendering occurs when you intentionally or unintentionally refer to a person, relate to a person, or use language to describe a person that doesn’t align with their affirmed gender. For example, referring to a woman as “he” or calling her a “guy” is an act of misgendering.
There are a number of reasons why misgendering happens. For example, people may notice that a person has primary or secondary sex characteristics and make assumptions about that person’s gender. Of course, misgendering can also be a deliberate act. People who have discriminatory beliefs and ideas about the trans community can use misgendering as a tactic for harassment and bullying. Misgendering is a difficult issue for trans people.
How you can help
You can show support and compassion for the trans community by being conscious of your participation in it and taking these simple steps to avoid doing so:
Don’t make assumptions – You may think you know how someone identifies, but you can only be certain if you ask.
Always ask what words you should use - You can ask people specifically, or ask people who know a given person. Or you can simply get in the habit of asking everyone their pronouns and terms they use for themselves.
Use the right name and pronouns even if someone isn’t present - This signals the proper way to refer to trans people to others. It also helps you get accustomed to saying the right thing.
Avoid using gendered language to speak to or describe people unless you know it’s the language that a particular person prefers - Practice using gender-neutral terms such as ‘folks’ or ‘everyone’ in place of phrases like ‘guys’ and try not to address people as ‘sir’ or ‘madam’.
Don’t default to gender-neutral language if you know how a person wishes to be addressed - It can seem like using the singular “they” to describe everyone is a safe bet, and sometimes that’s actually a good way to navigate a situation where you’re uncertain how a person identifies. But, it’s important to respect the wishes of people who have specific gendered language that they want you to use.
Avoid using passive language - Instead of saying: “X identifies as a woman” or “Y prefers he/him/his pronouns,” say things like “X is a woman” or “Y’s pronouns are he/him/his.”
Other useful resources
The LGBT Foundation
All About Trans
Gendered Intelligence
Terrence Higgins Trust
Glossary
Binary gender - A term to describe the genders of female/male or woman/man.
Cis/ Cisgender - Adjective that means “identifies as their sex assigned at birth”, derived from the Latin word meaning “on the same side.”
Cross-dresser/ Dual Role - A person who – occasionally or regularly – wears clothing traditionally associated with another gender. They usually do not seek to socially or medically transition to another gender.
Gender - The socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society assigns to people.
Gender expression/ presentation - The physical manifestation of one’s gender identity through clothing, hairstyle, voice, body shape, etc. (typically referred to as masculine or feminine).
Gender identity - A person’s inner sense of self as male, female, or somewhere in between or outside of male and female.
Gender dysphoria - Distress, unhappiness and discomfort experienced by someone about their physical body not matching their gender identity. This is the diagnosis people currently need from a gender specialist in order to be approved for medical treatments that assist in bringing a person’s body into line with their internal view of themselves.
Intersex - A term used to describe people born with biological sex characteristics (such as their genitals, internal reproductive system or chromosomes) that are medically detectable as differing from what is considered clearly male or female.
LGBTQ+ - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer. The ‘plus’ is often used to denote the many other sexual and gender identities that people may have.
Non-binary gender - A term used by people who identify their gender as not conforming to the traditional western model of gender as a binary.
Pronoun - The gendered terms we use to refer to a person, e.g. she/her, he/him, they/them.
Queer - A reclaimed term used by some people of marginalised gender identities and sexual orientations, who are not cisgender and/or heterosexual. Historically, this was used as a derogatory slur to identify LGBT+ people.
Sex assigned at birth - The assignment and classification of people as male, female or intersex, or sex at birth often based on anatomy at birth and/or chromosomes.
Sexual orientation - A person’s physical, romantic, emotional, aesthetic, and/or another form of attraction to others.
Title - How we formally address a person, e.g. Ms, Mr, Mrs, Miss, Mx etc.
Trans / Transgender - An umbrella term referring to a range of gender identities of those who find their gender identity or expression differs from the sex and gender assumptions attributed to them at birth. This term is not indicative of gender expression, sexual orientation, hormonal makeup, anatomy, or how one is perceived.
Trans man - An identity label sometimes adopted by individuals who are assigned female at birth and identify as men.
Trans woman - An identity label sometimes adopted by individuals who are assigned male at birth and identify as women.
Transition / Transitioning - A term primarily used to refer to the process a trans person undergoes when changing their bodily appearance.
Transphobia - The fear of, discrimination against, or hatred of trans people, the trans community, or gender ambiguity/gender variance.