Advice from a trans staff member.

My name is Blake, my pronouns are they/them, and I am a transgender member of staff within the Residence Life team. Before that, I was an undergraduate student here in Bath.

This week is Transgender Awareness Week, which aims to increase understanding about transgender people and highlight some of the issues that trans people face. It is so important that everyone feels safe and welcome in the place they are living; unfortunately, it is quite common for transgender and non-binary students to have a worse experience in halls of residence compared to cisgender students.

For this year's Transgender Awareness Week, I wanted to step away from impersonal information sharing or raising awareness about trans people - although that is important! Instead, this article will be raising awareness for trans people. I will be talking about the various schemes (processes, policies, etc.) that exist to support trans students who are living in halls of residence.

 

Your Room

Using shared bathrooms can be super stressful as a trans person, particularly if you are someone who experiences gender dysphoria. During my first year, I remember bringing all my clothes with me into the shower and waiting by my door to try and avoid bumping into flatmates, which was ✨not ideal✨. 

If you're in this situation, you have options! If you're comfortable talking to someone in the ResLife team, you can ask for an ensuite room as an additional requirement, or get help moving accommodation if you're already living in halls. Some of the forms and processes use medicalised language, which is unfortunate and uncomfortable for many trans people, but I promise its worth persevering with it if you can! I would recommend setting up an appointment or emailing ResLife.

 

Your Flat

The people you're living with can make such a difference to whether you feel at home within your flat. I've had both good and bad experiences living in university halls, and by far the biggest factor was who I was living with!

It can be quite difficult to know what to do if you're feeling uncomfortable or unsafe around your flatmates, particularly if it is caused by behaviours or actions which aren't explicitly or intentionally discriminatory. If this is how you are feeling in your flat, I'd strongly suggest getting in touch with the ResLife team and looking at options to switch to another flat group.

If you're at the stage where your choosing university accommodation, I'd recommend looking into the LGBTQ+ accommodation. I cannot overstate how beneficial it can be to live with other LGBTQ+ people; in my experience, it removes some of the explaining you have to do before you can be yourself, as your flatmates generally just get it. 

 

Admin Issues

A blog about the experiences of trans people probably wouldn't be complete without something to do with admin issues!

Unfortunately, it is fairly common for there to be issues with how name data is stored and shared across university systems. This can cause particular issues to trans people who have changed their name, and I'm aware of several cases of students' deadnames appearing in random places, which I know from experience can be a fairly distressing/undignifiying thing. 

Here are some short-term fixes for some of these issues:

• Mail and parcels: If you're worried about picking-up parcels that are addressed to your preferred name, then it is worth emailing ResLife. Currently, the only way on our end to get this right is to make a note on a person-by-person basis - definitely not a perfect system but worth doing if this is something that's worrying you!
• Security: Often, security will refer to the 'known as' name field. This is an optional field on SAMIS, and if your legal name isn't how you'd like people to refer to you then it is definitely worth filling this in! You can change/add your name yourself on SAMIS.
• Library card: Personally, back in the day, I did not enjoy having to access my flat with a library card that didn't have my name on it, and I suspect I'm not the only person who would feel like this! In case you didn't know, you are able to get a library card reprinted with your correct name on it, even if you haven't legally changed your name. Just send an email to the lovely library team and they'll be able to help you out! 

 

Getting Support

I've touched on some of this already, but thought I'd finish off with some advice about the various different options trans students have if support is needed or wanted.

• Talk to ResLife staff if you're having issues. In my experience, as a staff member, everyone in our team is super lovely, and, while it is most likely the person you would be talking to isn't trans or non-binary, I am confident that our staff proactively learn and listen to trans students. A lot of the above information is very admin/email heavy, so if you would prefer to come and speak to someone you can visit any of the hubs/accommodation centres, and either the person on reception can help you, or an appointment can be booked.
• Find community outside of your flat group by joining the SU LGBT+ group. The group has an active transgender and non-binary support and social group called T-Time, and also runs a Gender Expression Fund.

• Use the report and support tool. This online reporting tool can be used for any case of discrimination or harassment experience or witnessed. Some things to know about this tool are that the person reporting has control over the process, there are both formal and informal resolution routes to choose from, and you can report things anonymously if preferred. 
• Reach out for support. There are lots of option if you need help or support with anything; take a look at this helpful summary.