YUSU

For trans or questioning students coming to York...

For many years now, YUSU LGBT and LGBT Social have been proud to recognise the T in LGBT, working with trans students on issues that affect them as well as issues relating to sexuality. YUSU LGBT aims to be as inclusive as possible in its campaigns, looking at how issues affect trans people as well as how they affect lesbian, gay and bisexual people and ensuring as far as possible that the T in LGBT is not left silent.

The term “trans” can describe a very wide variety of people and the only fully-inclusive definition of a trans person is “a person who identifies as trans.” However, a good working definition is that a trans person is someone who feels that the gender label they were given at birth doesn’t accurately describe who they are. A trans person may choose their name, pronouns and how they dress to present themselves to others in the gender they identify with or they (or anyone) may choose to present as a different gender. Some trans people identify as male or female where others identify as a mixture of female and male, as both, as neither or as a different gender entirely. Many trans people also seek medical treatment to alter their bodies however some trans people have no desire to seek medical transition.

Trans is not a sexual orientation and trans people may be of any orientation, just like cisgender people (people who identify as/with the gender assigned to them at birth). Trans people usually identify their sexuality based on their gender, not their genitals so a trans man who is attracted to men may identify as gay.

If you would like more information about trans provision at York or if you’d like to talk about trans issues from individual to global, you can feel free to contact us at lgbt@yusu.org, or contact the university’s trans rep individually. You might find it useful to look at the following links and if you need more information the Trans Rep will be willing to help you find some.

Equality and Human Rights Commission: Transgender Rights - http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/advice-and-guidance/your-rights/transgender/

NHS: Transgender Health - http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/transhealth/Pages/Transhealthhome.aspx

Gender Identity Research and Education Society: Department of Health Literature Project - http://gires.org.uk/dohpublications.php

Changing your name at the University of York - http://www-student.cs.york.ac.uk/~emb511/name-change

William Smith, current YUSU Trans Rep

Copyright © William Smith and Emma Brownbill 2010