I've been asked to assist a shelter in becoming more "transgender friendly".  The shelter would be a temporary place to stay overnight or for a few days.  Unfortunately, "transgender friendly" means different things to different people.  So, in an effort to assist without putting my own admittedly biased and limited personal ideas out there, I'm asking the Susan's Place community to help.  So, without arguing, please share what you would like to see in a transgender friendly shelter.

When I send my recommendations to them, I'll post them here as well.

Thank You!!!!

Jennifer

Transgender friendly first and foremost means that it accepts transgender people and treats them with dignity.

Logistical issues of gender segregation should be addressed with all populations well being in mind.  There is no blanket answer or solution on how that might take place.

I agree on all counts.  However, it is the logistical issues that are problematic. 

For example...restrooms.  At work, I had to use a gender nonspecific bathroom for a period of time.  Is that a reasonable request?  These are people who often feel very vulnerable. Singling a person out is not good.

Implimentation examples please.

Jennifer

what would be the occupancy number for the shelter

I don't know how homeless shelters are where you are (I didn't see mention even of what country you're in), but where I am (NYC area), transgender homeless people's concerns are pretty much the same as cis homeless people's concerns:

Safety.

Safety from predators.
Safety from the authorities (who are usually hostile to homeless people.)
Safety from other homeless people (which frequently includes predators.)

That's because shelters in our area can often be more dangerous than the streets, especially the ones run by governments.  (NYC-run shelters are infamous.)  And the streets are not safe.

If you want a shelter to be anybody-friendly, you need to make sure that the people who stay there are safe from being attacked and from being robbed, whether by other homeless people or by the staff (or by predators who sneak in.)  A shelter which manages to be safe enough for cis women and children to feel safe there (and is not run by transphobes) is probably going to be safe enough for trans people.

As for the rest -- such as bathrooms and showers and sleeping facilities -- people are mostly going to be grateful for whatever you provide.  Homeless people are by and large resourceful and helpful and willing to make whatever adjustments are necessary.

I Know I'm from a different country from you but I hope you will forgive my brief input to this.

You said it yourself that transgender means many different things - and therefore the one thing that I would suggest you make sure they understand is that it is necessary to probe a little what someone means when the say they are "transgender" because it is a broad and hideously in-precise term describing many very different populations.

A homeless postop woman of many decades would pose and have a whole different set of issues to someone just beginning their journey, and so all organisations offering support need to have policies which enable them to differentiate between these two extremes, and all the shades in between, so that the can respond appropriately to very different individuals, rather than attempting to apply a "one size fits all" blanket "transgender policy".

From my example, a person who technically maybe transgender, but may have lived postop for many years would not expect to be segregated but might still feel the need to declare their status... it would however be wholy inappropriate to apply the same restrictions to them as to someone who is in the early stages of transition. To further complicated matters non binary and intersex people also may be considered as transgender and they too would have a reasonable expectation of different treatment again. So I think the point is that any policy has to be flexible and able to adapt to the individual.