Hey guys,

I have been having a rollercoaster experience within my education department in regards to field experience placements and being able to present as male, though one teacher I was with told me she believed and wish she had known when I was placed I identified as male because she feels her students would have had far less questions for her regarding me when I was there. But apparently my university does not think I should be able to present as Charlie, even though a year ago when I sought out information I was told they were on board, then we hired new people and it changed.

I finally reached the fine I will just get through three months of being called "miss" and hopefully be okay because I felt like I had no choice. However, yesterday someone in the department emailed me and switched to addressing me as my birth name and this person I have laid it all out with that I identify as Charlie and that I even have been delaying hormones because of the department. When I emailed back saying it was offensive to have known my story and switch back to my birth name she responded back saying how legally I have not changed my name so my name is my birth name and if legally I have done so to bring in my license to be copied for the department and how she cannot place me by anything other than my legal name.

I replied back stating that this had nothing to do with field experience but merely a lack of respect here is the whole reply
"As far as my name it wasn't in relation to the field experience at all as I know that the department only sort of supports my transition and that while we have an equal opportunity clause in our University handbook it apparently does not extend for transgender individuals to be able to identify as the correct gender. So I am aware of that, but as a human being I deserve to be treated with respect and while I am beyond disappointed with my treatment in the program at the very least I can be referred to as my chosen name since I cannot be placed in a setting which acknowledges my actual gender identity even while we have an anti-discrimination clause at our university.

This had nothing to do with placement or with legal issues, but respect. So thank you for the correction."

Then after talking with a friend I realized I deserve more than this as our university clearly accepts diversity and values it according to the website/handbook and so forth "Purdue University does not condone and will not tolerate Discrimination against any individual on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, genetic information, disability, status as a veteran, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. "

So I have decided to take my treatment higher and have addressed an email to the department head and included the Dean of Students on the letter as well, I wanted to get some feedback on the letter itself

I am wanting to email you directly about a few things regarding my feelings about my treatment within the education department. A year ago when I applied for student teaching I had met with *** about being able to be supported by the department as a female to male transgender person who solely identifies as male, *** had gone and talked to people on campus and highlighted our campus policy of being equal opportunity and this including gender identity/expression.

Yesterday, I received an email from *** addressing me as Jennifer, which I have specifically been clear to her that I go by Charlie, my email even says Charlie when I send it from the pnc.edu server and I found this to be very offensive as I feel that aside from Dr. *** and *** the department has not been supportive in my transition and has continually given me the run around regarding this issue, first it is okay, then it isn't, then it is. It has been extremely frustrating and I had been left with the impression that the department was not here to support me in presenting as Charlie, which I quietly accepted. Today to be told however what felt like even to be recognized on campus and via email as Charlie would require myself to have to legally change my name was a complete violation of my rights as a student on this campus. If I have shared my story and explained my gender to anyone on faculty then that is enough for them to accept it and legally on our campus that is a requirement since we are an equal opportunity campus. This is not the first time someone within the department has done this to me and it simply should not be accepted or tolerated by myself as an individual.

I have been told the department supports but then shown it does not, so now as I am beginning to start hormone treatment, I need to know where the department stands, as legally I am not able to change my name/gender marker but I am able to start that process and I am ready to do so. This will result in changes over this summer that simply will not coincide with the pronoun usage of Miss. If the department cannot support my transition I am prepared to take this issue higher within the university as the university promises equal experiences to those students who do not identify as their biological sex. I was born with a birth defect and like anyone else with a birth defect I should not have to delay treating this and thus delay increasing my health by doing so. I have made it clear to the department that I have been delaying correcting this health issue because of the education department and fear of not having support and backing from the department, I write this email in hopes of obtaining this support or to seek out additional support on our campus from the Dean of Students or beyond.

I hope that you can understand where I am coming from as a student and support me in treating a medical condition,

Sincerely,


Any thoughts feedback would be appreciated and if this isn't the right place for this I apologize, I am just looking for some support that this is something I should do vs letting it go.

That lady sounds awful 

Most universities that I've heard of (at least the ones I've attended) allow trans students to change their name on the school system, even if it's not legally changed (which yours must be if your student e-mail is under Charlie), though without looking at the school's actual policies this:

QuoteThen after talking with a friend I realized I deserve more than this as our university clearly accepts diversity and values it according to the website/handbook and so forth "Purdue University does not condone and will not tolerate Discrimination against any individual on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, genetic information, disability, status as a veteran, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. "

doesn't necessarily mean that they have to call you by your chosen name (it could under your state law though I suppose), usually that clause means they can't deny you opportunities (like job placements, etc.) just because you're trans; I guess unless you see them calling you by your female name as a hostile environment and it reaches a certain standard for what your state or school deems to be a hostile environment.

I think your e-mail was good though, and hopefully they'll talk to that lady about it. I know most schools have policies where school employees have to respect students and so on, and I am sure addressing someone by their chosen name would fall under that. Maybe she doesn't really know much about trans people.

I don't have any real world experience with this, but I think your letter is solid. If my birth name was Matthew but I preferred to be called Matt or Gary, then no one would need a legal name change in order to honor my request. With an anti-discrimination policy I would assume that your school would support your decision to be called whatever you would like to be called. I consider mandated rigid sex roles to be discrimination, and I consider calling you by a name that is not aligned with your gender identity to be requiring you to adhere to rigid sex roles. I say, keep fighting. Hopefully you just caught an ignorant person in your department and help is further up. Worst case scenario, you are standing up for your rights as a human being, to be recognized for the human you are. Keep us posted.

You are a Purdue student? And their theme this year is IDENTITY? For shame. You are right, it is about respect.

Your campus has both a diversity office and an LGBTQ center. I would consult with both. Then there are a few stated and national centers that you might think about for backup.

And just to be proactive, change your name legally as soon as possible. It's usually pretty cheap, and you might be able to get a fee waiver.

ETA: I saw your other thread, so it looks like you have the ball rolling as far as the name change. Good for you. You might check to see if you can get that court date moved up. It might be a long shot, but it's worth a try.

Arch- I can't move the court date up because I work out of state in the summer at a 24/7 job (summer camp) and since I don't drive and am part of the administrative team I can't really take off for to go complete this or I would, I plan on telling the department head about when my court date is and see if there would be anyway to delay when I start student teaching even if it means making up a few days into the next term etc

It was more the being told in order to identify as Charlie in any manner would require me to legally change my name that set me off as that is not set forth in our policies, and a year ago when I specifically had asked about changing my name I was strongly advised not to do so until after graduation and told it wouldn't hinder my presenting as male since the department was fully aware of the situation and the university supported me in this matter.

We hired new staff and it became a back and forth thing with the new lady who switched back to calling me my birth name hindering the process. She felt uncomfortable alerting schools to my gender identity or having me do so as well and refused to allow my application to be sent with a letter explaining that while my legal name is Jennifer that I have been going by Charlie and identifying solely as male on campus/summer employment for the last 2 years. When others volunteered to or found alternative arrangements she denied them for me and it just reached a point where I finally said fine I just want to graduate and not hinder getting my degree but on campus I still want to be seen as Charlie and had given her a letter explaining my transition etc, so I found it rude that she switched back to my birth name.

It also isn't the first time this has happened. My advisor did this last spring after I had spent 6 months trying to get paperwork I needed for financial aid filled out to which she never completed even though I had printed her copies to fill out and then later emailed them and was always told she would have them in a week and then the deadline was in two weeks so I finally went to the Dean of Students after speaking to a faculty member and then that same day I had my paperwork and also an email addressed to my birth name, while on the strand of emails before that they were all addressed to/from my chosen name.

I just feel at the end of the day I deserve to be treated with respect and I feel that it is severely lacking. And the lack of organization is frustrating, there is no agreement amongst anyone in the department and it is hard to be told one thing and then a few days later another.

I am meeting with the department head tomorrow so I will see what they say.

You shouldn't delay your treatment because people are not accepting of you.
A lot of people won't take you seriously until you show them how serious you are.
That means getting your stuff legalized and getting treatment.
Sucks but that's just how some people are.

95% of idiots that didn't use my real name and pronouns before,
do so flawlessly now that I'm on HRT.

In my opinion, telling someone to delay the name change until AFTER graduation is bad advice. For one thing, your diploma will be in the old name. You can always get it changed after the fact, but some schools balk at that. I don't know what the legalities are in such a case, but the schools have a lot of power relative to the students.

Not to mention that if you ever need letters of rec, your advisers might wind up using your old name. And if you do anything like an internship or special project, it's under your old name.

Apart from that, if an individual is giving you trouble and won't accommodate you, then you need to drag out the big guns. Go to the Diversity Office. Go to the LGBTQ Center. Please don't lie down for these bigots and fools.

I didn't have to deal with trans bigotry when I was an undergrad, but I did have some hurdles with respect to total units (I had a bunch of transfer units that put me over the max, and the school was hassling me about them) and my double major (my provost wrongly insisted that my chosen double major was not allowed, when it was listed right there in the fricking catalog). On both occasions, mousy little thirty-something me went into the provost's office with guns blazing and got what I needed by being obdurate and RIGHT. I even surprised myself. It didn't hurt that my department was on my side regarding the double major, but I didn't even need them because I was such a bundle of fury that the provost pretty much caved. I suppose he saw that I wasn't going to back down. And maybe he even looked in the catalog and saw that he was wrong.

I think it's harder to deal with trans stuff because a lot of us feel apologetic and off-balance. But when you dig your heels in and have people on your side, heads roll and your job is much, much easier. It could be that these individuals cannot be compelled to use your chosen name, but you might be able to get that policy changed if your school purports to honor gender identity and expression. And it could be that these individuals are breaking campus policy by treating you in such a shameful way.

God, this sort of thing makes me so angry.

Sounds like a horrible situation, and one I'll be addressing with Purdue staff when I interview them next month on my campus tour.

That said, I understand some people have problems with words/writing/reading but the entire email was unprofessional in it's writing. The grammar, wording, and flow were poorly executed. Overall I was confused about what you were really trying to say because I got hung up on how it was written.

Randomroads- I am at one of the branch campuses, not main campus. We follow all the same guidelines as main campus and a lot of times we have a lot of prof's who once were at main campus, but other than that it is separate in a lot of ways so if I were at main campus this may not be happening, but I pay significantly less at my campus and it is thirty minutes from my house.

Just so you knew that this may not occur at all the campuses. I don't want to completely throw the entire Purdue system under the bus since there are multiple branches involved and each having its own weaknesses and strengths in departments.