The Clackamas print., May 17, 2017, Page 4, Image 4

COLLEGE DOESN’T OFFER TRANS SERVICES
BY COLLIN BEREND
Over the years, transgender rights have been in debate suicide attempt rate. Female to male transgender
as advocates push for acceptance and others argue individuals have a 45 percent suicide rate. The general
against the notion. Someone who is transgender is a population’s attempt suicide rate is 13.26percent rate.
person whose sense of personal identity and gender
According to the paper, Oregon ranks at number
do not correspond with their birth sex, by definition. seven on states with transgender people based on
Students and faculty members who are transgender, percentage to general population, at 0.66 percent -
or wish to come out, may seek refuge in a place of which is 19,750.
acceptance or look to the school to help in any type
Studies have shown that even undergoing surgery
of resource to help them.
and transitibning does not falter those numbers.
“ We don’ t actually have many resources here However, the actual cause why even those who have
on campus,” said department chair of counseling undergone sexual reassignment sürgery - SR$ - still
Stephanie Sch aefer. “ B asically the (Gender have a high suicide rate. Only people’ s hypotheses
and Sexuality Alliance club] and the counseling fill the air as to why the suicide rates are so high, but
departm ent.” Schaefer also pointed out that the nothing actually confirmed via peer-reviewed papers.
disability center may provide some use, such as how
What resources exist for those attending or working
to “ navigate challenges on campus.”
for Clackamas Community College?
For transgender students, coming out or being
“When Planned Parenthood was looking at opening
oneself can be far more arduous struggle.
an office in the Clackam as County area,” said
Some may live their lives comfortably, others may Schaefer, “ they came and talked to us about needs
endure publicly being demonized as mentally ill we saw in the community and one of the things I had
and comparable to a pedophile or a freak, severely < mentioned was that we basically have no resources for
affecting a group of individuals who hold a high transgender folks, particularly things like hormone
suicide rate as it is.
treatment.”
The Williams Institute, a gender and sexuality legal
Schaefer explained that due to the lack of resources,
research institute at the University of California, Los not only on campus, but fn Clackamas County, people
Angeles, School of Law, published a paper that showed are forced to go to places like Portland.
suicide rates are higher for the community and for
“ These are resources we would like to have in the
those who are transwomen - male to female - and Multicultural Center and are working on obtaining
thbse that are transmen - female to male.
and making available to students,” John Ginsburg,
The W illiam s In stitu te reported that those interim associate dean of academic foundations and
transitioning from male to female have a 42 percent connections, said in an email. ,
Those who feel threatened or afraid on campus
should look no further than what was plastered
around campus in emails and posters last month
for Sexual Assault Awareness Month: stickers and
reminders of Title IX.
Title IX starkly highlights that the school cannot
discriminate against someone based on their gender.
“ There are processWm place fmffitudents,” said
English department chair CarolBurnell. “ For example,
changing your name in the system, you [can make the
request at student services}. And that’s something
that is very helpful. It’s not great when you go to class
and someone is reading the wrong name. It creates
awkward situatiaf e . ”
“ I do know that in all newbuilding construction,
there will be (gender neutral bathroom s],” said
Burnell. “ Locally, depending on age, there are
different resources. For folk under 21 there is The
Living Room. And that’s a resource for all queer youth
and they’® very [transgender] friendly.”
Joanna Ponce is a firm er employee at CCC who
taught English as ¡^ e c o n d language and is also
transgender. She transitioned while employed at CCC.
“ I was a teacher with the [ESL] program,” said
Ponce. “ And I‘ve done that almost all my life, for
[about] 4<jyears.”
“ I transitioned at the college in (spring] 2004,”
said Ponce. “ I went to see the [Human Resources]
department and told them that I was going to
transition.
“ When I came back onto campus [in] September,
I would be Joanna. They understood the law,” said
Ponce. ,“ They understood my rights..”
“ I gave them information about transgender people
and I said that I’d be willing to help in any way they
needed h elp ,” said Ponce. “ But my intenflBtn ^as
to send out a letter via email to all the faculty and
administrators at the college about my change and
that .when I came back to the campus in the fall, I
would have a new name and a new gender.”
During her ^ n e at the college, Ponce mentions
that she didn’t hajig a glamorous struggle story, th a f
people were tolerant, even if they didn’t accept it^
acting in a professional manner. She recalled one
moment’where a close frj^gd she knew inquired about
addressing her in her former male name, to which
she said, “ Oh you may not.”
During her last few years, she said that she went
to the LGBTQ+ club that existed and handed her card
out to students, to which she was contracted by some
transgender studenls and other who were questioning
or curious about transgender.
PonCe currently resides ih w e x ic o where she
continues educating others on the English language.
For those over 21, there is the Q Center and the
Clackamas County Health. The Q Center, 4115 N
Mississippi Ave in Portland, is a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender and Queer plus (W3BTQ+) community
center that offers many resources, including support
groups. These ggoiip are inclusive to all ages, not just
21 and over,
"We don’t actually have
many resources here on
campus.”
-Stephanie Schaefer
PONCE
PERCENT FACED DISCRIMINIATION,
PERCENT ATTEMPTED SUICIDE
PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL
AFTER COMING OUT
Source: Williams Institute, UCLA School o f Law
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