Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2018)
NEW RESOURCES AVAILABLE ON CAMPUS AFTER A YEAR, THE COLLEGE ENACTS NEW RESOURCES FOR TRANS STUDENTS BY W ILLIAM FARRIS „ THE CLACKAMAS-PRINT - On May 17 o f last-year the Clackamas Print released a story about the lack of resources available for trans students on cam pus. A t th e tim e, Clackam as Com m unity College stated that while they didn’t have many ways of supporting students, they hoped that over time this would change, but there were still other options available., Sihce then, much has changed, not just on campus, but on a national scale; almost a year later, it’s time to see exactly what’s changed. The biggest resource on campus for LGBTQ questions and issues is currently the counseling department. Counselors can help students receive support, answer their questions and even guide them to find various local groups that can help with students who are transitioning or questioning. Groups and com m unities like The Living Room and Planned Parenthood rem ain great places to go for LGBTQ people. However, since the college still lacks on-campus dedicated programs, directing students is still the best way of supplying resources for transitioning, though it has been stated that o n - campus options are expanding. The biggest change that the counseling department has seen has been in the opinion o f students and the number seeking aid. Counselor and academic adviser Ignacio Gonzalez said, “ The Overall view from m y colleagues is that we are all definitely seeing more variety of students, and 1 think they’re becom ing more comfortable knowing there are services in here. ” He also stated that the department was seeing more students now, com ing in and talking with counselors since last year. T h e c o u n s e lin g d e p a rtm e n t rem ains an open space to talk to people and ask questions if students need to, but still lacks resources for students to transition or get started. P laces lik e th e M u ltic u ltu ra l C e n te r and A sso cia te d Stu d en t Government are also inclusive spaces for LGBTQ activity, but still don’ t graphic by Alexis Wagar feft« Trans men « harassed by law enforcement Trans women s o w experienced discrimination at work harassed or bullied at school mi « had a doctor or healthcare provider refuse treatment at work ft lÌife D Q Ìi « experienced homelessness rn 1 jGTji q i T W f l v f c f t - at school w » & The information in this graphic was sourced from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey and examines how lifetime suicide attempts vary among different groups of transgender and gender non-conforming people. Clackamas Print ---------------- — 1_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ theciackam asprint.net have many ways to help students at this tim e. The m ulticultural center does, however, do its best to reach out to students w ith events and inform ation. On the table outside the M ulticulture Center office are pamphlets and packets for anyone to grab, that provides inform ation for trans people and supporters alike. They have also hosted events like the show ing o f LGBTQ film Moonlight, directed by Barry Jenkins and celeb rating natio n al com ing out day to help give support to the com munity. “ We did events to reach out more to students we don’t know, or hard to reach, ” said m ulticultural center leader Xiao Tan. A S G does its b e st to fo s te r a s u p p o r tiv e a n d in c lu s iv e environment on campus as well. They have invited m ultiple organizations w ith trans aid and resources to health fairs on-cam pus to help with issues affecting LGBTQ students like housing and suicide prevention. Even though they don’t have direct ways to help m ost o f the tim e, ASG president Jairo Rodríguez said,“ We do have some things in our files for resources, and were still b uilding up on those. ” He also expressed his con fiden ce th at they w ould gain more resources to help in the future. W hile C C C s till lacks resources for trans stud ents and has even lost some like the Gender Sexuality Alliance which hasn’t met in over a term, the environment and opinion around the schoolhas changed. M ore stud ents are co m in g out and lo o k in g fo r su p p o rt, w h ile the student body and its various organizations do more tb em b race diversity and be more w elcom ing. Even if the school still has more to do, it still continues to move in jthe right direction. February 28 , 2018
