LGBT Groups Release Beyond the Binary to Support Transgender Students

Press Relese: LGBT Groups Release Beyond the Binary to Support Transgender Students

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2004

CONTACT: Courtney Joslin, Senior
Staff Attorney
National Center for Lesbian Rights (415) 392-6257 ext. 305

Carolyn Laub, Executive Director,

Gay-Straight Alliance Network (415) 552-4229


LGBT Groups Release Beyond the Binary to Support Transgender Students

New Tool Kit Will Help Student Activists and Allies Increase School
Safety

San Francisco, CA- Recently released data confirms that advocacy
groups have been correct in asserting that transgender and gender non-
conforming students are alienated from educational environments at
alarming rates in California. In response to this alienation and in
coordination with the Transgender Day of Remembrance, the Gay-
Straight Alliance Network, Transgender Law Center and the National
Center for Lesbian Rights announce the official launch of an exciting
new resource for student activists and their allies, Beyond the
Binary: A Tool Kit for Gender Identity Activism in Schools.

Beyond the Binary is designed for student leaders, teachers,
activists, and allies who want to address harassment and
discrimination against transgender and other gender non-conforming
students.

"As a comprehensive guide to policy change, training, and student
action around gender identity issues, this new tool kit is a 'must
have' resource for student activists and others fighting for gender
justice in schools," said Carolyn Laub, Executive Director of Gay-
Straight Alliance Network, one of the organizations co-authoring the
tool kit. "GSA leaders and advisors have been hungry for more
information on addressing transgender issues in school, and this tool
kit finally meets their needs."

The 45 page tool kit provides the necessary tools to make schools
safer for all students, including concrete steps for designing and
implementing a campaign, tips for working with school and district
administrations, ideas for conducting trainings, and examples of
campus visibility events that can be staged to raise awareness about
issues related to gender identity and _expression. For example, the
tool kit contains a step-by-step guide for planning the Transgender
Day of Remembrance on a school campus.

"All students deserve to have a safe and effective education," said
Courtney Joslin, Senior Staff Attorney with the National Center for
Lesbian Rights, who contributed to the project. "Beyond the Binary is
an important resource to help ensure that this is goal is achieved
for all students, regardless of their gender identity or _expression."

The voices of real students and activists are included in 7 personal
accounts by transgender and gender non-conforming youth who have
faced harassment and discrimination and/or fought for a more just
school. Finally, the tool-kit includes practical information on legal
protections, model anti-harassment policies, a sample letter to a
school board, and a listing of additional resources for transgender
and gender non-conforming youth.

Chris Daley, Director of the Transgender Law Center believes that now
is the ideal time for Beyond the Binary : "As more and more young
people come out as transgender, teachers, school administrators, and
students need to be educated about creating schools where everyone
can safely pursue a quality education free of gender identity-based
harassment, intimidation and violence."


Beyond the Binary can be downloaded free of charge in pdf format from
any of the following websites:

http://www.gsanetwork.org/

http://www.transgenderlawcenter.org/

http://www.nclrights.org/


Christopher Daley, Esq.
Transgender Law Center
(415) 865-0176