Inclusivity for Organizations
It is vital that organizations are trans inclusive, as past adverse experiences and fear of discrimination can make many trans people wary of accessing their services. Some tips:
- Try to be aware of potentially exclusive gendered practices. Is it really necessary to ask for gender on registration forms, etc.? (See ‘Gender-Neutral Admin’.) Does your dress code really have to be gender-specific (‘black tie for men, evening dress for women’), or could you use a less exclusive formulation (e.g. ‘black tie/evening dress’).
- If you do have to ask about gender (for example, on forms), you should provide enough options and include the options ‘non-binary’, ‘other’ and ‘would prefer not to say’. If you have to ask about titles, include the option ‘Mx.’
- If wanting to convey ‘all welcome’ for events, the use of limiting language such as ‘gay and straight welcome’ will not be sufficiently inclusive: a closed list of those groups welcome can never be long enough! Open language such as ‘all genders and sexualities welcome’, or simply ‘all welcome’ is far more useful.
- Try to be aware of accessibility in venues used and events put on – for example, try to use venues which have gender neutral bathrooms rather than single-sex ones.
- If someone notes an area in which an event is not as inclusive as it could be, listen to them and respond constructively
Another useful resource institutions such as colleges can provide for trans students is a Gender Expression fund. Formore information about the Clare College Gender expression fund, see the following pages by Dan Wright, UCS president: http://ucs.clare.cam.ac.uk/gender-expression-fund/
ucs.clare.cam.ac.uk/site/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/UCS-Gender-Expression-Fund-Motion.pdf
For more information about how you can be inclusive, please look at the following page: lgbt.cusu.cam.ac.uk/think/recommendations/.
Some advice written by the Make No Assumptions campaign written for pubs, bars and clubs in Cambridge on how to become inclusive of trans people: https://media.wix.com/ugd/bdc429_bf202422ee2241a7b17f3f91f39f4581.pdf.
A piece on recommendations for gender neutral toilets in colleges: https://media.wix.com/ugd/bdc429_bc0ecc33f9b74d3fb1d76a3fd7618550.pdf.