Copyright © 2000 Lisa Lees / Contact Lisa
Additions and corrections welcome!
August 1995: an "angry dyke columnist for the State News" kicks off an epochal year with a column titled, "'U' suffers from 'gender dysphoria'"
Fall 1995: transgender support group begun by two students (FTM) and two staff members (MTF) with the support of ALBGTS (the Alliance of Les-Bi-Gay-Trans Students)
Fall 1995: Board of Trustees decides to postpone consideration of a domestic partner benefit policy for two years
1996-98: the Staff Advisory Committee of the Gay & Lesbian Faculty & Staff Association (GLFSA) helped bring transgender issues before the administration, eventually receiving the official non-opinion about whether gender identity is covered by the MSU Anti-Discrimination Policy (see November 1998)
Beginning in March 1966, trans students and staff spoke many times about transgender topics to classes, including:
March 1996: the appearance of the choice `transgendered' on the Residence Life Opinion Survey sparks a heated exchange of letters on the State News opinion pages, which helped boost attendance at the transgender panel during Pride Week
April 1996: interview with transsexual staff employee printed in the State News, first transgender panel, and first explicitly trans-inclusive campus Pride March
August 1996: first transgender support group information table at the LBGT Student Resource Fair
1996-97: an explosive year on triang-l and within GLFSA as discussions of gender and sexual identities ranged from the polite to absolute screaming hissy fits
October 1996: "Student reportedly beaten near Union" was the article in the State News reporting the incident on Halloween that clearly showed the link between gender identity and violence against 'gay' people
November 1996: NCOD panel, "Love Makes A Family" panel and reception, all with transgender participation
February 1997: "Cocoa & Java; Words & Jam," an LBT Women's Coffeehouse held in the Union
March 1997: Lisa spoke about hir transgender experience to the Dignity group at St. John Catholic Student Parish
May 1997: Lisa presented a workshop, "Making Love with a Third-Party Body," at the University of Chicago during their Bisexual, Gay, and Lesbian Awareness Days
August 1997: first issue of Q-News published, open to the expression of viewpoints from the entire spectrum or continuum or whatever of the queer community
October 1997: first presentation of Gender: Exploring Diversity and Acceptance during NCOD (a trial run for the Olin training sessions)
Fall 1997: Board of Trustees enacts domestic partner benefit policy for gay men and lesbian women (questions of how transgendered people caught between legal and social definitions of 'sex' would be affected by this policy are left unanswered and for the most part unconsidered)
November 1997: two transgender training sessions conducted for Olin Health Center staff
January 1998: consultations with Residence Life concerning issues that may arise with transgender students either living in residence halls or working on RL staff
February 1998: Lisa talked about transgender issues and experience at a Counseling Center staff meeting
February 1998: Brent, Kate, and Lisa presented the workshop, "A Training Method for Transgender Awareness and Sensitivity," at the 1988 Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender College Conference at the University of Illinois at Chicago
June 1998: Lisa's chapter, "Meeting The Needs Of Transgendered Students," is published in the book "Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender College Students: A Guide for Faculty and Administrators," Ronni Sanlo, Editor
June 1998: consultation with MSU Safe Place team about transgender shelter issues
July 1998: consultation with Physical Plant about transgender employee issues
October 1998: Alice Dreger gives the NCOD keynote speech, "Love With a Ruler: A Primer on Intersex," a Transgender Awareness Day is held with an information table in the MSU Union and a discussion entitled "Intersections: Gender and Sexuality"
October 1998: first session of "Sharing Our Stories," a facilitated dialogue between students active in ALBGTS and students active in the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
November 1998: Lisa spoke about transgender experience to the Welcoming Congregation Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church in East Lansing
November 1998: two sessions of Gender & Sexual Orientation training conducted for the staff of Human Resources
November 1998: After years of asking whether MSU's Anti-Discrimination Policy (ADP) protects people on the basis of gender identity expression, the university finally says in writing that, "with rare exceptions, courts have not found that any of the categories already in the ADP provide protection for transgendered individuals because they are transgendered" and politely refuses to answer the question
April 1999: Leslie Feinberg (author of Stone Butch Blues, Transgender Warriors, and Trans Liberation) is the keynote speaker for Pride Week, themed "Pride in Diversity"
September 1999: Lisa's seminar, "Life After Sex And Gender: Personal Identity In The New Millennium" kicks off series of LBGT-themed seminars sponsored by the Women's Resource Center
October 1999: Gender Transgressors panel and discussion session during NCOD brought together many identities (MTF, FTM, lesbian, separatist, gay, queer) for intense discussion
March 2000: Q-News publishes its first "Gender Issue," devoted almost entirely to the exploration of gender as a social phenomenon. Staff members enthusiastically agree that such a topic should be featured again in the near future.
April 2000, musician/songwriter Angela Motter spoke about transgender identity during Pride Week
Copyright © 2000 Lisa Lees /
Contact Lisa