Welcome to the Transgender Commission website!

The Transgender Commission is a coalition of people from across the University and greater community working to create change and equality for people of all gender identities and expressions.

Everyone is welcome! We need your voice! Join a workgroup and get involved!

Events, Meetings & Announcements

For more information -- or to get involved in the planning of our events -- please contact Remy Corso and Ross Neely, Transgender Commission Coordinators, at TransCom@umn.edu or 612-626-3064.

Updated 2/1/10

Trans Commission Facilities/Restroom Access Workgroup Meeting
Tues, Feb 16, 1:00-2:00 PM
Coffman Union Board Room (307)

Join our Facilities Workgroup for the hour just before our February full commission meeting to discuss our restroom access strategy as we prepare to meet with Facilities Management in early March to set new, more focused gender-neutral restroom priorities for the East Bank and St. Paul campuses.

Transgender Commission February Meeting + Gender Dialogue
Tues, Feb 16, 2:00-4:00 PM
Coffman Union Board Room (307)

Join us to help set the Trans Commission agenda for the spring semester, discuss how the commission does its work and whose voices get heard, and engage in a dialogue prompted by the results from the gender surveys we collected during Trans Day of Remembrance 2009. Snacks and beverages will be served. Everyone is welcome! Email TransCom@umn.edu for more information.

Genderheads: Straightlaced Film + Discussion Straightlaced Film (tentative)
Mon, Feb 22, 6:00-8:30 PM
Location TBA

Genderheads is a series of informal discussions about our gendered lives: talking about how we experience gender identity, expression, oppression, joy, performance, perception, and more! On Feb 22, we will be showing the new film Straightlaced and holding a discussion afterward with free food. Cosponsored by the Women's Student Activist Collective. Full information coming soon! Contact Ross at neely010@umn.edu for direct questions.

Transgender Commission March Meeting + Gender Dialogue
Mon, March 8, 2:00-4:00 PM
Appleby Hall 41

Join us for our monthly full Trans Commission meeting and a gender dialogue led by former Co-Chair Karin Anderson regarding the ever-evolving vocabulary of trans discourse: the words and meanings people & communities choose to describe our gendered lives and identities. Snacks and beverages will be served. Everyone is welcome! Email TransCom@umn.edu for more information.

(Trans)Gender 101
Wed, March 10, 2010, 1:00-4:00 PM
St. Paul Student Center, Minnesota Commons Room

(Trans)Gender 101 offers an opportunity to think critically about the gendered lives we all lead, and how creating accessible environments and inclusive understandings of gender can benefit everyone. This training creates a space for participants to examine gender identity, gender expression, and our cultural notions of femininity and masculinity. Drawing on the experiences and scholarship of transgender and genderqueer communities, combined with facilitated activities and small group discussion, attendees think about gender in new ways and leave with steps they can take to help make our campus and larger communities more welcoming and affirming for everyone. This training is free and open to everyone. Educational materials will be provided, and snacks/beverages will be served. Click here to register with a UMN login; please email glbta@umn.edu to register without a UMN login or for more information. For more GLBTA-related trainings, please visit the GLBTA Programs Office homepage.

Genderheads: March Discussion
Tues, March 23, 12:00-1:30 PM
Coffman Union Room TBA

Genderheads is a series of informal discussions about our gendered lives: talking about how we experience gender identity, expression, oppression, joy, performance, perception -- and the intersections of gender with race, class, ability, sexuality, and all our identities. Each dialogue is led by a different facilitator (could be you!) and may utilize questions, texts, activities, films, art, and/or more to prompt discussion. Everyone is welcome! Cosponsored by the Women's Student Activist Collective. Full information coming soon! Contact Ross at neely010@umn.edu for direct questions.

Gender Freedom Day
Wed, April 14, 2010
Coffman Union and Various Locations

This multi-organization and multi-event effort is currently being organized and will include a Genderheads discussion from 4:00-6:00 PM in Coffman Union. Check back soon for more information! Contact Ross at neely010@umn.edu for direct questions.

Genderheads: April Discussion
Wed, April 14, 4:00-6:00 PM
Coffman Union Room TBA

Full information coming soon! Contact Ross at neely010@umn.edu for direct questions.

Gender Freedom Art Showcase!
April 5 - May 6, 2010
Appleby Hall Ground Floor Display

The GLBTA Programs Office and the Transgender Commission are looking for artwork submissions that express gender freedom and GLBTA identities/experiences! As part of our Gender Freedom Day/Campaign on Wed, April 14, the GLBTA Programs Office will be displaying selected gender freedom artwork in Appleby Hall during the month of April. As a finale, the artwork will be displayed at the annual Lavender Celebration & Awards Ceremony on Thurs, May 6, in Coffman Union.

Our gallery is designed to display hanging artwork, but small sculptures or other forms of art may also be submitted. Artists are encouraged to submit a diverse range of artwork: photography, paintings, drawings/sketches, mixed media, collage art, written word, crafts, new/digital media, etc. We want anything that you feel expresses gender liberation, freedom, or revolution in some way! Deadline for submissions is Monday, March 29, 4:00 PM in 46 Appleby Hall. Please email questions and submissions to glbta@umn.edu. Submissions should include 1) photos of artwork, 2) a short artist statement, and 3) contact information. Go go gender freedom!

Transgender Commission April Meeting + Gender Dialogue
Thurs, April 15, 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Coffman Union 324

Join us for our monthly full Trans Commission meeting and engage in a thought-provoking gender dialogue. Snacks and beverages will be served. Everyone is welcome! Email TransCom@umn.edu for more information.

Semester-End Pizza Party
Fri, May 7, 11:30 AM-1:30 PM
St. Paul Student Center 202

Take a break from finals week stress and eat some free pizza with great company! Joint venture between the Trans Commission and the St. Paul GLBTA Lunch Group.

Join the Trans Advocacy Team!

The Transgender Commission is launching a new Trans Advocacy Team, to be comprised of students, staff, faculty, alumni, and/or community members who volunteer to be available to respond to gender-related issues/instances as advocates to trans folks on the University of Minnesota campus. The Team will educate itself around advocacy principles and strategies in order to provide support, training, referrals, intervention, and/or resources -- we want to proactively create safer, affirming spaces on this campus for people of all genders. Everyone is welcome to join the Team; no previous advocacy training necessary. For more info, please contact TransCom@umn.edu.

News: Story about Transgender Commission in MN Daily

An article about the Transgender Commission and our restroom access work was printed in the Oct 15, 2009 edition of the Minnesota Daily, along with a map of gender-neutral restrooms on the Minneapolis campus. Read it here. The TC Daily Planet also published the story here.

News: U of MN Equal Opportunity Statement Amended to Include Gender Identity and Gender Expression!

After three years of discussions & organizing by the Transgender Commission (and countless years of activism and demand before that), the Vice President and Vice Provost for Equity & Diversity (who the Trans Commission reports to) took our proposal to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents to add "gender identity and "gender expression" explicitly to the U of MN Equal Opportunity Statement. This July 2009, the proposal passed, along with other changes, and you can view the new, updated, gender-equitable language on the Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action website.

News: Story about Trans Commission on The Colu.mn Website

Shortly after we broke the Equal Opportunity policy change news, three members of the Transgender Commission did an interview with The Colu.mn, a new Minnesota LGBT news & culture website, and the article spent weeks as a feature story on their homepage. Read it here.

Transgender Day of Remembrance Actions: Nov 20, 2008

Thank you to everyone who participated in our gender freedom art collaboration and genderheads film screening & discussion of Boy I Am on the Transgender Day of Remembrance this year!

David Seitz and Remy Corso, on behalf of the Transgender Commission, published an editorial about the Trans Day of Remembrance and intersectional social justice movements/spaces in the MN Daily. Read it here.

We encourage everyone to continue to submit letters/articles/art to media about gender violence and joy. Please let us know if you do!

Our Trans Day of Remembrance events were sponsored by the GLBTA Programs Office, Queer Student Cultural Center, and the Women's Student Activist Collective. Thank you!

Kate Bornstein Did the Twin Cities: October 19-23, 2008
Thank you to everyone who attended Kate's Week of gender freedom events!

News: Transgender Commission Wins 2008 Breaking the Silence Award!

The Transgender Commission has been chosen as the recipient of the 2008 Breaking the Silence Award, "for its outstanding service to the U of M and greater GLBTA community, particularly around
helping the U become a safer, better place for people of all genders." The Transgender Commission was honored at the Lavender Celebration and Awards Ceremony on May 1, 2008. Congratulations and thank you to all the incredible people -- students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members -- who have contributed to our work over the past two years!

Update: Trans Resources Page

We have updated our Resources page listing of local and national transgender and gender freedom websites.

Resource: U of MN Gender-Neutral/Unisex Restroom Map

Click here to view our evolving Google Map of gender-neutral restrooms in University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus buildings. Thank you to Ben Falter and the Facilities Workgroup!

Report and Recommendations for Institutional Change

Download a copy of the 2007 Transgender Commission Report,
submitted to the University of Minnesota Vice President and Vice Provost
for Equity and Diversity. The Report provides an overview of the first year
of Commission work, history and partnerships, and presents our initial recommendations for institutional change.

The Transgender Commission presented our 2nd annual Report during August 2008; this new Transgender Commission Report will be available online soon.