matthewtime (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} matthewtime) wrote,@ 2008-05-04 09:48:00 |
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#18: Educate a local homeless shelter about how to be trans inclusive
From the NCTE:
Homeless shelters can be very challenging places for those who need them; this is especially true for transgender people. Most shelters are gender segregated and many do not have policies that deal with issues of gender identity and expression. Yet studies have shown that as many as 1 in 5 transgender people may need the assistance of a shelter, due to our community’s high level of under- or unemployment and the disruption of networks of family and friends.
Helping a shelter develop trans-inclusive and supportive policies could be one of the most important actions we take. It will certainly help preserve the dignity and well-being of a trans person and it may even save a life by ensuring access to a safe shelter environment.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute and the National Coalition for the Homeless issued a resource last year called Transitioning Our Shelters: A Guide to Making Homeless Shelters Safe for Transgender People. The report, authored by NCTE Board of Advisor’s steering committee member Lisa Mottet and John Ohle, includes very specific information about how to work with shelters to change policies and make shelters respectful and safe places for all people. It has been used by shelters across the country that provide services for the homeless and for those displaced by natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina.
The report says, “The bottom line is that transgender people should be treated with respect. Their freedom to define themselves through self-identification and expression should be honored in every way, including in the language that staff use to refer to them as well as with their housing, bathroom, and shower placement . . . The clear consequences of a rule that makes surgery the dividing line between who gets gender-appropriate shelter and who does not means that most transgender people will never get gender-appropriate shelter and treatment. Knowing how important it is for the emotional and physical safety of transgender people to have their gender identities respected, treating people according to the gender they self-identify—the policy of respect—is the only humane option.”
You can download a free copy of this important resource at www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/TransHome
You can also get more information about homelessness and the trans community on our website.
Work with your local shelter to ensure that it is a place where trans people find safety and respect when they need its services.
From the NCTE:
Homeless shelters can be very challenging places for those who need them; this is especially true for transgender people. Most shelters are gender segregated and many do not have policies that deal with issues of gender identity and expression. Yet studies have shown that as many as 1 in 5 transgender people may need the assistance of a shelter, due to our community’s high level of under- or unemployment and the disruption of networks of family and friends.
Helping a shelter develop trans-inclusive and supportive policies could be one of the most important actions we take. It will certainly help preserve the dignity and well-being of a trans person and it may even save a life by ensuring access to a safe shelter environment.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute and the National Coalition for the Homeless issued a resource last year called Transitioning Our Shelters: A Guide to Making Homeless Shelters Safe for Transgender People. The report, authored by NCTE Board of Advisor’s steering committee member Lisa Mottet and John Ohle, includes very specific information about how to work with shelters to change policies and make shelters respectful and safe places for all people. It has been used by shelters across the country that provide services for the homeless and for those displaced by natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina.
The report says, “The bottom line is that transgender people should be treated with respect. Their freedom to define themselves through self-identification and expression should be honored in every way, including in the language that staff use to refer to them as well as with their housing, bathroom, and shower placement . . . The clear consequences of a rule that makes surgery the dividing line between who gets gender-appropriate shelter and who does not means that most transgender people will never get gender-appropriate shelter and treatment. Knowing how important it is for the emotional and physical safety of transgender people to have their gender identities respected, treating people according to the gender they self-identify—the policy of respect—is the only humane option.”
You can download a free copy of this important resource at www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/TransHome
You can also get more information about homelessness and the trans community on our website.
Work with your local shelter to ensure that it is a place where trans people find safety and respect when they need its services.
