Gender Resource Network

= Mission Statement =

The mission of the Gender Resource Network is to provide resources related to gender self-determination for members of the Hampshire community. We sponsor events and programming based on the needs and desires of students and create spaces for them to feel comfortable, have fun, learn, and get support. We accomplish this through events and programming which we sponsor, such as spaces to socialize, workshops and skill-shares, a free clothing box for people transitioning their wardrobes and experimenting with gender expression; screening media that relates to issues of gender self-determination, and maintaining a Hampedia page with links to online resources and resources in the Valley. Typically, the students we serve identify as trans or transgender. However, we do not police identity nor think that everyone should identify as trans if they don't feel it fits them. Anyone who feels they could benefit from our resources and programs are welcome to them.

Format of Grin
Grin is a resource hub through which programs and events can be sponsored. The signers hold open organizing meetings where programs are planned. The signers + whoever shows up to organizing meetings are Organizers. Organizers either bring programs forward for the sake of organizing them or Organizers come up with programs together and organize them. This format allows ongoing non-temporal programs to continue existing without relying on regular attendance or use of other programs. All Grin-sponsored programs are open to everyone in need/want of them, and attendance of meetings is not required. GRIN organizing minutes folder

= Current Programming =

We are currently working on the following programs

Grin Social Space
Mondays at 6pm, before we convene our organizing meeting, we have a space in the CFF alternating between a social drop-in space and planned workshops or other events. These events are open to everyone, allies included. We do not police the identities of anyone and thus won't assume if someone is an ally or not. This is a space where someone could reliably find others who they can talk about gender with.

Campus-Wide Events
We hold campus-wide events from time to time. We've held screenings of various media about gender and all-inclusive clothing swaps.

The GARB Program
GARB stands for Gender Affirming Regalia Box. It is a box kept in the Center for Feminisms conference room. It is a large locked box containing donated clothing. Anyone with the keycode can exchange their used clothes for clothes in the box. So for instance, if someone has some dresses they never wear anymore, they could exchange them for some pairs of jeans. It is intended for help with wardrobe transitioning and to help people acquire clothes for exploring gender presentations. The whole box is an honor system, similar to Good Reads. GARB is a community exchange program intended for good quality used clothes. Clothes you don't wear anymore because of gender presentation or personal style reasons, not because they're stained, torn, or only fit you when you were seven years old. It is not a free pile.

To get the code for the lock, simply ask any signer or attend any GRIN meeting or event. You will be given the code, no questions asked. The lock is simply to discourage strangers from taking all of the clothes without putting anything in. You do not have to be currently transitioning, whatever that means to you, to use GARB.

We're currently trying to figure out ways to keep the box from overflowing with donations that don't get taken. If you have any suggestions, let us know!

The SMERC Queer & Trans Media Sharing Program
[http://trick.ly/gFi Click here to go to the etherpad! Ask any signer for the password] ~This Program Is A Work In Progress~

Do you like books and movies that have trans and queer characters and plots? Well this resource is for you!

SMERC stands for Shared Media E-Resource Collection. It is a shared document to exchange knowledge of media with positive portrayals of various gender identities, ways of having gender identities, as well as queer representation. It is open for editing, so if you have any trans or queer centric stories, please feel free to add them, following the format of the rest of the document.

The CRINGE Initiative
CRINGE stands for Central Records Inclusive Name & Gender Expectations. CRINGE is a sub-group that meets Fridays at 5pm in the CFF to work on reforming campus policies around privacy of records, so that legal names and gender information is not so easily distributed around campus. Minutes for CRINGE are kept in the same shared google drive folder with the GRIN organizing minutes.

= Listserv & Facebook Group =

Grin has a listserv! You should subscribe to it! Anyone can use this listserv to advertise or ask for resources. It is a communication network! Email grin@lists.hampshire.edu to send emails to the listserv! If you're comfortable with it, you can also join our Facebook Group for all the same great stuff as the listserv but in facebook group format!

= Resources = Please feel free to add any resources you know of

Health Care
Patricia Jenkins is a therapist in Northampton who specializes in gender issues, working more specific with trans feminine spectrum people.

Baystate Health Transgender Services Aleah Nesteby is a Nurse Practitioner who is a gender specialist. She can prescribe hormones as well as be your regular doctor. She has offices in Northampton and Springfield. She works off of an informed consent model which makes it easier to get healthcare.

The Fenway Health Tollfree Listening Line is a hotline run by Fenway Health Center, an LGBT health center based in Boston.

Trans Lifeline is an all-trans run hotline

Links to Other Lists of Links to Resources
Stonewall Center Trans Resource Guide, a catalogue of doctors, therapists, lawyers, and cosmologists, who are trans friendly or experienced with working with a diverse gender population

Massachusetts Trans Policy Coalition's Resource Listings

Resources in The Valley
The Gazebo is a Trans-Friendly lingerine store in Northampton that fits bras and sells binders.

Northampton: TREE (Trans Education and Empowerment ) Youth Group, meets Wednesdays at 4pm at 2 Conz st, in Northampton. It's a social/support group for trans-identified and gender non-conforming youth 12-21. Call 413-475-1798 for info. sgoldberg@communityaction.us

Legal Stuff
Changing legal gender markers in Massachusetts

Changing legal name in Massachusetts

Getting Food Stamps

Other Cool Stuff
Letter template for informing professor's about preferred names and pronouns

How to Apply Winged Eyeliner With A Spoon

10% off Underworks Binders!

Gender 101
Really cute comic explaining the basics of gender identity (this is currently a broken link but if anyone knows a stable source for this comic feel free to fix this link)

Not Your Mom's Trans 101, a very good, comprehensive and accurate introduction to trans concepts.

7 Tips for Using Trans Inclusive Language

The Top 19 Questions People Always Ask a Trans* Person

Ariel Violet on Why The Asterisk Is Unnecessary Ariel Violet on why not to assume people are cis

Dr. Cary Costello explains how how the medical field is influenced by Patriarchy to categorize the 10+ possible configurations of genitals into a binary.

A website for helping you practice pronouns

Another, more flexible pronoun practice website.

Glossary
This is a simple glossary of terms you may hear when people talk about their own identities.

Assigned/designated gender at birth: often referred to using the acronyms "AMAB/AFAB" or "DFAB/DMAB." Refers to the letter the doctor wrote on your birth certificate when you were first born.

"Gender/Sex": (see Not Your Mom's Trans 101 for a better answer)

Transgender: often shortened to just trans. An adjective describing anyone who disagrees in some way with their assigned gender, even if only partially. Anyone claiming any gender other than their assigned gender at birth is trans if they choose to identify as such.

Cisgender: often shortened to just cis. An adjective describing one who agrees 100% with the gender they were assigned at birth. Does not have to be a permanent identity, and does not imply comfort with one's body. You may hear the term "Syngender" being used. Syngender has the same meaning as Cisgender, but has an etymology some people prefer.

Transitioning: A personal process unique to each individual that encompasses anything done to move to a preferred gender from one's assigned gender, even if only in little steps towards nowhere in particular. This can simply include identifying as Not Cis.

Dysphoria: Unhappiness with one's assigned gender and/or an associated desire to not be it. While not a prerequisite for trans identity, many trans people don't realize they've been feeling dysphoric until after they've experienced not feeling dysphoric for the first time. Dysphoria is a unique experience to each person.

Non-Binary: A term for any gender other than 100% Man or 100% Woman, and thus falls outside the gender binary (see Glossay 200-level for more on the gender binary).

Genderqueer: One of many non-binary gender identities. While some genderqueer people do not identify as trans, they do still fall under the definition of trans and are always welcome to use the word to describe themselves if they want to.

Agender: Another common gender identity outside the gender binary. Means "without gender" or "genderless," though those terms may have different personal meanings. Some people pair an agender identity with a femme or butch identity.

GRIN shares its resources with everyone, whether or not they identify as trans. Pragmatically, it's impossible to tell if someone is trans until they identify themselves to you as trans, so if we tried to control who had access to our resources we would end up excluding many trans people and many non-trans people who could benefit from our resources.

Click here for a more advanced glossary which covers terms used when talking about experiences of oppression and marginalization

Click here for a comprehensive guide to pronouns

How To Change Your Preferred Name & Pronouns On The Hub

 * 1) Go to directory.hampshire.edu
 * 2) Log in (button is in top-right corner)
 * 3) There is now a tab labelled "Preferences", click it.
 * 4) On the left there is "Name/Pronouns Preferences"
 * 5) For some reason you are required to read the policy, after totally doing that, click the "Proceed" link
 * 6) You are now on a form where you can change your first name and choose either He/Him, She/Her, They/Them, or Ze/Hir as pronouns. If none of those are your preferred pronouns then you must choose "No Pronouns" and professors will be instructed to only use your name. You are also asked if you want your name displayed as your 'legal' name, 'preferred' name, or both. If you choose both, your name will be displayed as "Legal (Preferred) LastName". You aren't allowed to use a mononym at Hampshire, as racist as that is.

How to Change Your Name in Webmail

 * 1) Go to webmail.hampshire.edu
 * 2) Log in
 * 3) Click the gear in the top-right of the page; this is the Settings button
 * 4) Click on "Identities" in the list of options on the far left
 * 5) Click on the identity you want to change in the second column (there is probably only one)
 * 6) Edit the Display Name field

If you want a new ID with this name on it you must email the OneCard Guy, who is very nice. You can also send him a new picture at any point, though don't do it too often/unless you need to.

Professors are required to use your preferred name and pronouns in your evaluations. If they don't, you have to email CASA/Central Records and ask them to edit your evaluations. They hate doing this though, and will take a month or more to get around to it. They also will only do it so many times before they get sick of you. So it may be best to leave wrong pronouns until you graduate and then have them all revised together. Especially if you aren't sure which set of pronouns you want there. CASA/Central Records has also been known to edit evals which had the proper pronouns used and change the pronouns to the wrong pronouns, without being asked to do so, based on the "gender of your name" but treat requests to change them back as if you had changed your preferred pronouns and want evals revised. You are entitled to retroactively have your name and pronouns revised on all of your evals.

What to do when a professor won't use your pronouns in class
If correcting your professor over and over isn't working, email Diana Fernandez and Prof. Luschen. They're in charge of diversity policies and will talk to the professor about strategies for remembering and using pronouns. If, after that, a professor still wont use your pronouns or name, you are really not under any obligation to put up with it. Put it in their faculty evaluation and talk to Diana again; you are not obligated to be nice to a professor who creates a hostile environment for you. It is legally discrimination under Title IX for them to not use your pronouns, though this change is recent and will take time to be rolled out into policies.

What's up with the bathrooms?
Hampshire is legally obligated to have some gendered bathrooms, but we've fought really hard to make all-gender bathrooms available in every building. The weird loophole is that some bathrooms are actually "All-Gender," while others are "Bathrooms with urinals" or "Bathrooms without urinals". The latter kinds of bathrooms are technically/legally gendered bathrooms, as far as the building-code enforcement people are concerned. But they are de facto gender-free. There are a very small number of "self-idetified men/women" bathrooms left on campus from when Hampshire tried to forcibly gender every bathroom and pretend that was good for trans people by using a lot of nice sounding words. Fortunately, there's no building left on campus which has no all-gender bathrooms. If at some point Saga re-genders their bathrooms, you'll need to ask the front desk for a waiver to let you back into saga if you leave to use an all-gender bathroom.

= Inventory =


 * 1 RubberMaid Actionpacker 48 Gallon Container (The Gender-Affirming Regalia Box) Stored in the CFF conference room.
 * 1 Masterlock Padlock (for the GARB program) stored wherever the GARB is.