There are a number of folks who frequent the LGBT Resource Center who are not cisgender.  Identities and labels are fluid, and some have identified as genderqueer, nonbinary, transgender, Trans, agender, bigender, Two-Spirit, transwomen, and transmen. A number of staff across campus identify as transgender. They are living full time as their appropriate gender, and they are still connected with our community. 

The staff and communities of folks who frequent the LGBT Resource Center provide a warm, welcoming family for everyone, including and especially our transgender family.

The transgender community at UC San Diego is small, and fluctuates from year to year, as people start and leave UC San Diego, through transferring, graduating, finding new jobs, etc. The transgender community at UC San Diego has been integrated into the significantly larger lesbian, gay and bisexual community at UC San Diego and specifically at the LGBT Resource Center. The center provides a home for everyone in our community, regardless of (and especially because of) their gender identity, sexual orientation, and romantic attraction.

Yes. On December 18, 2003, the University of California nondiscrimination policies were revised to clarify that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is prohibited. The affected policies and statements:

• University of California Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action Policy Regarding Academic and Staff Employment
• Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action Policy Statement for University of California Publications Regarding Employment Practices
• Nondiscrimination Policy Statement for University of California Publications Regarding Student-Related Matters
• Personnel Policies for Staff Members 12, Nondiscrimination in Employment
• Academic Personnel Policy 035, Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment.
• UC San Diego's Principles of Community

The changes incorporate the addition of "gender identity" as a protected status under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, which became effective January 1, 2004.

Beyond Binaries is a discussion group for transgender, gender variant/fluid, genderqueer, nonbinary, & gender-questioning individuals.
 
Beyond Binaries has met in different forms and styles since 2001 at UC San Diego (Queering Gender, Transgender Intersex Alliance, Trans Collective etc.). The group currently meets bi-weekly during the academic year. If you are interested in the group, check out or organizations page.

All of our student organizations are open and inclusive of the transgender community. For a listing of those organizations and contact information, go to our organizations page. 

Events and Opportunities throughout the year:

• T*Camp is an intercampus retreat to explore gender identity and expression and to engage in dialogue with our peers. This event is specifically for students who are transgender, genderqueer, or gender questioning (TGQQ). Retreat facilitators include transgender and genderqueer community members, as well as campus LGBT resource professionals. Look out for applications in the Fall.
• Trans Day of Remembrance- an remembrance event to honor our Trans community community whose lives have been taken due to anti-Transgender hate and violence.
• Trans Day of Empowerment- a celebration event held in the Spring to uplift and empower our Trans community on campus.

Another way to get involved is through volunteering, joining our Peer Education Program, and creating your own organizations through our Affiliatates Porgram.

The LGBT Resource Center has excellent relationships with the staff of Psychological and Counseling Services. Training with the staff has been regular and recurring.  Specific counselors on staff have lived experiences with the LGBTQIA+ community that provides them with specific insight into our community. Certain individuals are excellent resources for our transgender student community, and contacting the LGBT Resource Center for connections will ensure the best quality service possible.

Counseling may be helpful for a range of issues affecting transgender students, such as adjustment to UC San Diego; identity expression and transformation; coping with stress, depression, or anxiety; relationship issues; and family concerns.

However, the short-term services provided of Psychological and Counseling Services would not meet the requirements to diagnose and treat Gender Identity Dysphoria, and therefore, students interested in hormone treatments and surgical transitions would need to seek counseling (not medical) services off campus. The staff of Psychological and Counseling Services can make excellent referrals to local counselors who are sensitive to transgender people.

New gender inclusive signs on all single stall restrooms!

UC SAN DIEGO CAMPUS NOTICE

University of California, San Diego OFFICE OF THE VICE CHANCELLOR –

EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

OFFICE OF THE VICE CHANCELLOR – RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING

April 14, 2016

SUBJECT: New Gender Inclusive Bathroom Signage

Over the next 2-3 weeks, Facilities Management will be changing signs on all single-occupancy restrooms across campus, in accordance with the UC Office of the President’s Guidelines on Gender Inclusive Facilities.

These guidelines seek to create a safe, accessible, respectful and inclusive campus environment for transgender and gender variant people and provide direction on the implementation of gender inclusive facilities in UC-owned buildings. These guidelines affirm that individuals have the right to use facilities that correspond with their gender identity. Many people may experience difficulty, inconvenience, or harassment when using gender specific restrooms and facilities. Additionally, parents with children of a different gender, as well as caregivers to persons of a different gender, face difficulties in accompanying them. This change seeks to address these issues.

The new signs can be viewed at http://blink.ucsd.edu/facilities/services/general/personal/restrooms.html and updated ADA signs will be included where applicable.

For questions about this new protocol, refer to the UCOP Guidelines document. If you have any additional questions, please contact Anna Levitt at (858) 534-8336 or alevitt@ucsd.edu.

Becky Petitt, Vice Chancellor – Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Gary C. Matthews, Vice Chancellor - Resource Management and Planning

History

In the Fall of 2003 the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Issues partnered with the staff of Building Services to provide a list of all the single-stall, lockable restrooms on campus. Several accessible, single-occupancy restrooms are located throughout the UCSD campus. Specific locations of these men's, women's, unisex, and wheelchair-accessible restrooms are listed. The list is extensive, and is organized by College and major University area. The list can be reviewed at http://blink.ucsd.edu/go/restrooms

These facilities also help families with children--such as mothers bringing sons, or fathers bringing daughters, to a restroom--and people with disabilities who need the assistance of an attendant of a different gender.

UC San Diego continues to evolve in its opportunities for students who live on campus regarding the LGBTQIA + community. Gender Inclusive Housing, the LGBT Interest Housing program, and UC San Diego’s commitment to house transgender students via discussions based on individual and specific needs all have developed out of the expressed needs of students. If there are other opportunities you would like to see, or improvement to the current programs, please contact both the LGBT Resource Center and the Residence Life Office of your college. Our shared goal is to provide many opportunities to meet the needs of all UC San Diego student living on campus.

Gender Inclusive Housing

• Gender Inclusive Housing is available for continuing groups of undergraduate residents in all seven apartment living areas at UC San Diego. This option meets the needs of all of our continuing residents, inclusive of all genders, gender identities and expressions. It means that for continuing residents, women, men, and people of all gender identities and expressions can live together.
• In January of each year, current residents should start thinking about who they might want to live with in the coming school year. Applications are typically available via the websites of each of the seven living areas listed below, beginning early February. Those who want to apply for Gender Inclusive Housing, should go to the website of living areas in which you have interest:
  • Revelle
  • Muir
  • Marshall
  • Warren
  • ERC/I-House
  • Sixth
  • The Village
• Gender Inclusive Housing is not a programmatic offering, but an option for living together inclusive of all genders, gender identities and expressions, and not gendered into male and female spaces. For the opportunity to live in a space that has programmatic elements regarding LGBT issues, see the information below regarding LGBT Interest Housing

LGBTQIA+ Living Learning Community

While it is the goal that every area on the UC San Diego campus is a safe and supportive home for all members of our community, UC San Diego recognizes the unique needs and challenges facing the LGBTQIA+ community. In order to better support this community, the LGBTQIA+ Living Learning Community was established as a pilot program, and is currently housed at Muir College.  For more information about LGBTQIA+ housing, contact the John Muir College Associate Dean of Students / Director of Residence Life, Pat Danylyshyn-Adams at padams@ucsd.edu. 

Housing for UC San Diego’s transgender students

• Transgender students are valued members of the on-campus living community at UCSD. In order to provide support for the needs of incoming and current transgender students, all Residence Life offices at the six colleges and Housing & Dining Services strongly encourage potential and current residents to contact the Residence Life Liaison, at (858) 822-1782, reslifeliaison@ucsd.edu.
• On-campus housing at UCSD is gendered in all colleges, and Gender Inclusive Housing (see above) is only available for continuing (not first year) students.
• New, first year incoming students are encouraged to contact the Residence Life Liaison before arriving to UCSD. In meeting the needs of the incoming student, UCSD will recognize and respect the gender identity the student has established with Housing. Staff will not ask for any more information than is required to meet the student’s housing needs, and all disclosed information will be kept strictly confidential.
• The Residence Life Liaison will, through conversation and specific knowledge regarding the living environments of the colleges, and in coordination with the Resident Deans, provide students with the options available to them, given their college. There are significant responsibilities that all students have when applying for housing, including active engagement in finding roommates, selecting living environments, etc. However, at no time will Housing force a transgender student, who has followed Housing procedures and met the above responsibilities, to have to find a comfortable, welcoming housing assignment on their own.
• All Residence Life professional staff, including the Resident Deans and Assistant Resident Deans, have received extensive training regarding transgender issues. Resident Advisors/Hall Advisors (RA/HA’s) also receive training from both the LGBT Resource Center and through their own Residence Life Office.

The LGBT Resource Center has been actively engaged with the staff at all athletic facilities to determine the best ways to meet the needs of transgender students given the gendered locker rooms at all of the on-campus facilities.  There has been little forward motion on this since 2006.

Currently, no specific training has been done with the front-line staff at any of the athletic facilities regarding transgender issues. None of the athletic facility locker rooms are designated as gender neutral. Transgender students have been confronted by patrons in the gender restrooms in the past.

Beginning in the spring of 2019, all students are able to provide the University with preferred first and middle names, as well as personal pronouns, in the campus data systems. This process is available through the Social Identities link on a student’s MyTritonLink https://students.ucsd.edu/my-tritonlink/tools/index.html. The University will use a student’s preferred name, except in very limited circumstances where a legal name is required.

Following UC San Diego’s Principles of Community, preferred names and personal pronouns ensure we are able to address students respectfully and appropriately. Students choose preferred names, also referred to as lived names or names in use, for a variety of reasons: they are nicknames, the names reflect a cultural, personal, religious or familial
preference/practice, students who select another name for campus use because people mispronounce their given/birth names, or names that accurately reflect a person's gender identity.

More information and answers to frequently asked questions are available for students at https://students.ucsd.edu/sponsor/registrar/preferred-name.html and for faculty and staff at https://blink.ucsd.edu/instructors/resources/preferred-identifier.html.

Our campus will continue to fully embrace our diverse members through implementing preferred names and personal pronouns. This level of inclusion ensures all students can access UC San Diego and fully participate in the life of our institution.

Legal names can be changed on campus records by completing the Name Changes & Corrections form available from the Academic Records Staff in the Registrar's Office, http://students.ucsd.edu/academics/_organizations/registrar/name-change.html. The Registrar is located on the second floor of the Student Service Complex.

Students have the option to voluntarily self-identify and update their  gender identity, sexual orientation, sex assigned at birth, and gender expression through the MyTritonLink portal.

Yes. There are specific physicians and nurse practitioners that have worked with our transgender community at UC San Diego. For more information, please see https://wellness.ucsd.edu/studenthealth/services/Pages/transgender-care.aspx

Student Health Services has trained their entire staff regularly since 2007 regarding trans issues. Your experience is important, and hopefully you will be treated with respect and informed care as you interact with Student Health Services. You should expect this from them, and if you do not receive this degree of service, please contact the Director of Student Health, Dr. Stacie San Miguel, directly so the issue can be addressed.

For students who identify as part of the transgender community, and have begun, or are beginning, their transition, there are a number of processes that can be followed. Major points of contact include UC San Diego’s LGBT Resource Center, Student Health Services, and Psychological & Counseling Services. All of these agencies should have an understanding of the health insurance policies that come into play, the competency to address the needs of transgender students, and the ability to communicate to each other regarding the services you may be seeking. These processes are set forth as a way of understanding the way you may access the health services you need.

LGBT Resource Center

Students who are transitioning/transitioned and are beginning to live/living full time in their appropriate gender expression may begin by accessing the LGBT Resource Center to connect with other community members, as well as gather information about the competency levels of other units within the institution regarding transgender issues.

Student Health Services

Counseling and Psychological Servies: Students who are struggling with their gender identity, or issues related to gender identity, may access Counseling and Psychological Services as a first point of contact. Students who have significant issues that can only be addressed with care beyond the length currently available through Psychological & Counseling Services may be referred to on off campus provider that is knowledgeable about transgender

There are specific physicians and nurse practitioners that have worked with our transgender community at UC San Diego. For more information, please see https://wellness.ucsd.edu/studenthealth/services/Pages/transgender-care.aspx

Can I receive counseling related to gender concerns at UC San Diego Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)?

• UC San Diego CAPS (the student counseling center) can provide an initial evaluation and short term counseling for transgender, transsexual and gender-nonconforming students.
• Please be aware that certain providers have more experience in transgender counseling, therefore please indicate that you are interested in obtaining transgender counseling when making your appointment.
• To set up an appointment with a CAPS psychologist call 858-534-3755.

What about longer term counseling?
CAPS only provides short term counseling. If longer term counseling is a part of your care plan your CAPS psychologist will help you find a transgender knowledgeable counselor in the off campus professional community.

Does SHIP insurance cover counseling for transgender students?
Yes.

Can my CAPS psychologist talk with my UC San Diego medical provider so I can get transgender medical care?

If you are undergoing or planning any feminizing/masculinizing medical interventions your CAPS psychologist can communicate with your medical provider to help provide you with the best care.

Is counseling required for me to received transgender medical services at UCSD Student Health Services?
Generally, a psychological evaluation is required for any person requesting feminizing/masculinizing medical interventions, such as hormonal treatment or surgery. A psychological evaluation generally consists of 1-4 sessions with a psychologist or other mental health provider who is knowledgeable in the area of transgender care. After your evaluation, your psychologist will talk with you and your UCSD physician to develop a plan for your care.

Ongoing counseling is highly recommended if you decide to begin a gender transition. Because finding a comfortable gender role is a psychological and social process, counseling can be a valuable tool.

Counseling can help you to

• clarify and explore ideas around gender
• address the stress related to possibly changing your gender
• have a supportive place to discuss issues related to “coming out” as a transsexual, transgender, or gender-nonconforming individual. 

Critical Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary program at UCSD offering students the opportunity to study gender, race, class, sexuality, and nationalism as intersecting categories of analysis and experience. The program’s curriculum is designed to move students beyond popularized accounts of gender to consider its complex constructions over time and in a variety of cultural, scholarly, and global arenas. Students can expect to encounter a rich spectrum of theoretical and methodological approaches in studying these complex constructions—approaches which all share, despite their differences, a critical orientation in their analyses of gender relations.

Statement for Transgender Students, found at http://pao.ucsd.edu/getting-started/student-identity.html. 

From the Programs Abroad website: “Transgender students are valued members of the University of California, San Diego communities. While studying abroad at other campuses, the values and cultures regarding transgender students may not be the same as at UC San Diego. In order to provide support for the needs of incoming and current transgender students currently or planning to study abroad, we strongly encourage students to contact their study abroad advisor."

The University of California Police Department at San Diego is in the process of coordinating training with the LGBT Resource Center. The Chief of Police, Dave Rose, and members of his senior staff have been to the LGBT Resource Center.

If there are any problems or concerns with the UCPD, please contact the LGBT Resource Center. The Community Service Officer’s (CSO) are a program of the UCPD. CSO’s are not trained in transgender issues at this time. The Residential Security Officers (RSOs) are also a program of the UCPD. RSO’s are not trained in transgender issues at this time.