Statement on solidarity with transgender and nonbinary students, faculty, and staff

The University of Louisville Department of Sociology stands in solidarity with transgender and nonbinary students, faculty, and staff. We aim to provide a space that affirms all our students’ sense of worth and promotes belonging, and safety, particularly in the existing political climate, and we adamantly oppose all forms of violence, harassment, and erasure aimed at people who identify as trans and non-binary. Furthermore, we respect the well-documented research demonstrating that trans and non-binary individuals who receive gender-affirming care are less inclined to suicide and depression, and that trans and nonbinary individuals are more likely to be victims of violence and crime rather than the perpetrators of it (see for example Flores, Meyer, Langton, and Herman, 2021.) 

As sociologists, we recognize the damage caused by hate, discrimination, and oppression across the globe, and understand that social injustices are maintained and reproduced through systemic actions. We know from the literature that biases are built into any system, and that the system itself will enact those biases unless people stand together to intervene. We are committed to taking concrete steps to disrupt harmful biases and structures and create a better and more just society. 

Because we celebrate the diversity of the human experience, and because we recognize our students’ ability to make their own decisions about their bodies and minds, we pledge to: 

  • address students by the name and pronouns of their choosing and resolutely refuse to comply with directives to do otherwise. 
  • support LGBTQ+ student protests and stand against LGBTQ+ discrimination within the University community. 
  • advocate for gender-affirming care of any kind. 
  • ensure that there is proper representation of the broad spectrum of human gender and sexuality in our curriculum and continue to provide programming surrounding gender and sexuality. 

 

What follows is a list of recommended resources on trans and nonbinary identities, and discrimination against trans and non-binary people:  

  • Coleman, Raphael D., Jason K. Wallace, and Darris R. Means. 2020. “Questioning a Single Narrative: Multiple Identities Shaping Black Queer and Transgender Student Retention.” Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 21(4):455–75. 
  • Flores, Andrew R., Ilan H. Meyer, Lynn Langton, and Jody L. Herman .2021. “Gender Identity Disparities in Criminal Victimization: National Crime Victimization Survey, 2017–2018.” American Journal of Public Health, 111(4), 726–729.  
  • Doan, Long, and Grace, Matthew K. 2022. “Factors affecting public opinion on the denial of healthcare to transgender persons.” American Sociological Review, 87(2), 275–302.  
  • Goldberg, Abbie E., Katherine Kuvalanka, and lore dickey. 2019. “Transgender Graduate Students' Experiences in Higher Education: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Study.” Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 12(1):38–51. 
  • Goldberg, Abbie E., JuliAnna Z. Smith, and Genny Beemyn. 2019. “What is needed, what is valued: Trans students’ perspectives on trans-inclusive policies and practices in higher education.” Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 29(1), 27-67. 
  • Goldberg, Abbie E., JuliAnna Z. Smith, and Genny Beemyn. 2020. “Trans Activism and Advocacy among Transgender Students in Higher Education: A Mixed Methods Study.” Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 13(1):66–84. 
  • Goldberg, Caren and Val Willham. 2022. “Lean on Me When You're Not Out: Interactive Effects of Coworker Support and Concealment on Transgender Employees' Commitment and Effort.” Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, 42(1):1–17. 
  • Lagos, Danya. 2019. “Hearing Gender: Voice-Based Gender Classification Processes and Transgender Health Inequality.” American Sociological Review, 84(5), 801–827.  
  • Martínez-San Miguel Yolanda and Sarah Tobias, eds. 2016. Trans Studies : The Challenge to Hetero/Homo Normativities. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. 
  • Weiser, S. Gavin, Travis L. Wagner, and Myles Lawter. 2018. “Double Jeopardy: (Trans)Versing Higher Ed As Queer Trans Advocates.” Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 15(3):323–39. 
  • Westbrook,Laurel. 2021. Unlivable Lives: Violence and Identity in Transgender Activism, University of California Press: Berkeley, CA. 
  • Westbrook, Laurel and Kristen Schilt 2014. “Doing Gender, Determining Gender: Transgender People, Gender Panics, and the Maintenance of the Sex/Gender/Sexuality System.” Gender and Society, 28(1):32–57. 
  • Westbrook, Laurel. 2022. “Violence against Transgender People in the United States: Field Growth, Data Dilemmas, and Knowledge Gaps.” Sociology Compass, 16(6). 
  • Westbrook, Laurel. 2023. “The Matrix of Violence: Intersectionality and Necropolitics in the Murder of Transgender People in the United States, 1990–2019.” Gender & Society, 37(3):413–46. 
  • Zamani-Gallaher, Eboni M., Devika Dibya Choudhuri, and Jason L. Taylor, eds. 2020. Rethinking Lgbtqia Students and Collegiate Contexts : Identity, Policies, and Campus Climate. New York, NY: Routledge.