Affirming Support For Trans Community Members at Brown
The LGBTQ Center, established at Brown in 2004, provides a comprehensive range of education/training, cultural, social and educational programming, support services and advocacy services to the entire Brown Community. The Center works to create and maintain an open, safe, and inclusive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning students, faculty, and staff, their families and friends, and the campus community at large.
We recognize that sexual orientation and gender identity and expression work through and are influenced by race, ethnicity, gender, culture, age, disability, class, faith and other social characteristics. In keeping with the ideals of Brown University we commit to justice, equality, and respect for all persons in all of our endeavors.
The LGBTQ Center and the Sarah Doyle Women's Center both support students around issues of gender and sexuality. The Sarah Doyle Women’s Center (SDWC), established at Brown in 1974, seeks to provide a comfortable, yet challenging place for students, faculty, and staff to examine the multitude of issues around gender. The SDWC offers programs and services for all members of the Brown community and is a site for research into and exploration of gender issues that extend into and beyond the classroom.
Spring 2018: Kelly Garrett, Director, Open Hours: TBA or by appointment. On occasion, my schedule will change without notice. For an appointment outside of my open hours, or if I'm not available during open hours please contact me at Kelly_Garrett@brown.edu.
We are a member of the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals.
Although trans students are still protected under Title IX and have a right to be treated according to their gender identity, including when it comes to restroom access, the LGBTQ Center and the SDWC feel that it is important to affirm trans and gender non-conforming members of our community given the harmful precedent that the Trump Administration guidance rollback has set.
Yesterday, the LGBTQ Center Director and Vice President for Campus Life & Student Services wrote a letter Affirming Support For Trans Community Members at Brown. On Friday, March 10th from 4-6pm the LGBTQ Center and SDWC will host a Craft/Community Care Event in the LGBTQ Center (3rd Floor of Student Center). Students, staff, and community members are encouraged to gather in fellowship and solidarity. There will also be craft materials available for those who are interested in making posters that encourage trans liberation and advocacy. If given permission by the maker, these posters will be reproduced and put up on bathrooms around campus as a reminder, as Dalia Rubiano Yedidia said, “for people to show up in support of trans communities, whether on social media, in the streets, or in their own lives.”
Elliot Ruggles, a SHARE Advocate has agreed to serve as a confidential resource for trans/GNC students that may need to unpack how the current political/social climate has impacted them.
If you are unable to attend this event or, can attend, but don’t want to produce your own art, that’s OK! We encourage you to choose one of the attached posters below from the Trans Day of Resilience Project, print it out, and put it up on a bathroom in your department or a communal space you frequent.
Additionally, below is a list of resources for support as well as ways to get more involved in gender/sexuality activism locally and nationally:
Campus Resources
- Brown Center for Students of Color
- Counseling and Psychological Services
- First Generation College and Low-Income Student Center
- LGBTQ Center
- Sarah Doyle Women’s Center
- SHARE Advocates
- Student Support Services
Non-Binary, Genderqueer, and Trans Support Group
Every Tuesday | 12:00-1:00pm | Sarah Doyle Women’s Center Lounge
Join Laura Sobik from CAPS for a support for non-binary, genderqueer, trans, and questioning students. This drop-in style group meets weekly on Tuesdays from noon-1:00 pm in the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center Lounge. Group is currently limited to Brown undergraduates, graduate students, and medical students. Light snacks are provided.
Rhode Island Resources & Organizations
National Resources & Organizations
- Audre Lorde
- Black Youth Project
- BreakOUT!
- The Brown Boi Project
- Echoing Ida
- Gender Justice League
- Gender Spectrum
- Gender Diversity
- Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement
- FIERCE
- The International Foundation for Gender Education
- Mobile Homecoming
- National Black Justice Coalition
- SNaP Coalition
- Transgender, Gender Variant & Intersex Justice Project
- Transgender Law Center
- Trans Youth Equality Foundation
- TransActive Gender Center
- Trans Women of Color Collective
In solidarity,
LGBTQ Center Staff
Sarah Doyle Women’s Center Staff