Trans experiences of a university campus in northern England

Abstract

The spatial experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming ("trans") people continue to occupy the margins of geography, especially compared to the amount of work centred on lesbian and gay lives. Though research on trans geographies in educational and health settings is expanding, most literatures stem from the USA. This paper shares findings from a study about the experiences of trans people who study and/or work on a specific university campus in northern England. Our findings demonstrate how particular spaces of the campus are generative of interactions which enable micro-aggressions and misrecognition. K E Y W O R D S feminist geographies, higher education, Northern England, qualitative interviews, trans geographies, university campus 1 | INTRODUCTION In this paper, we explore the experiences of transgender staff and students on a university campus in northern England. University campuses are sites of meaningful encounters (Andersson et al., 2012) and those who identify as transgender and/or gender non-conforming are some of the most marginalised students on campus. We contend that it is important to give voice to the experiences of transgender staff and students and we set out to do so in this paper. We offer a brief introduction to debates about transgender geographies before setting out the Foucauldian and queer perspectives framing our research. We then detail findings according to the three spaces in which trans students and staff felt most marginal: bathrooms, residential accommodation, and spaces of learning and conviviality. A final part of the paper summarises how campuses may be made inclusive of trans people. 2 | TRANS GEOGRPHIES OF THE CAMPUS British anti-discrimination laws have only been extended to trans people during the past decade, partly thanks to Press For Change and similar advocacy groups (Mitchell & Howarth, 2009). There remains no Census data on the trans population in England, Wales, and Scotland but estimates suggest there are anything from 65,000 to 300,000 trans people in the UK. A 2014 survey of 4,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) students by the National Union of Students highlighted that only 20.6% felt "completely safe" on campus, while a third had suffered bullying and 56% considered "dropping out" (Acciari, 2014). In June 2019, the Metropolitan Police confirmed a doubling of hate crimes against LGBT people in the past five years in wider society (Marsh et al., 2019). Historically, universities have been seen to provide people with an opportunity to experiment with alternative gender and/or sexual identities away from constraints of "home" and school (Marine & Nicolazzo, 2014). However, Formby (2015) posits that there remain few qualitative studies that detail the specific challenges faced by trans students and staff in the UK. Research on trans lives is usually US-centred (Ullman, 2018) or situated alongside "sexual minorities" (Ellis, 2008).

Transgender negotiations of precarity: Contested spaces of higher education

“…We have focused attention on the ways in which the spaces of a particular campus can act as important sites in which social relations take place. Departments, faculties, institutes, buildings, student unions, and social areas are imbued with power relations that shape everyday lives (Gieseking, 2007; Hopkins, 2012; Joshi‐McCutcheon‐Sweet, 2015; Mearns et al, 2020). This research has contributed to knowledge concerning the ways in which HEIs are entangled in trans people’s marginalisation, highlighting the need for further understanding of how diversity, inclusion, and discrimination play out in these spaces.…”

“…Spaces of education tend to be presented as “inclusive” and “diverse” environments for trans people but may not always live up to this (Mearns et al, 2020). As Johnston, (2018, p. 9) highlights, “universities have struggled to accommodate diverse embodied subjectivities due to the lasting reproduction of masculinist, heteronormative, ableist, racist and minority world‐centric discourses,” where high emotional distress is a “normalised” condition for students and staff (Peake & Mullings, 2016).…”

Transgender and non-binary students’ experiences at UK universities: A rapid evidence assessment

“…Theme 2: Negative experiences (a) 'Spaces of anxiety' One common theme that emerged addressed the anxiety felt by TNB students when trying to navigate gendered spaces. Specifically, bathrooms, changing facilities and sporting societies were seen as 'spaces of anxiety' for TNB students (Bonner-Thompson et al, 2021;Mearns et al, 2020;Phipps, 2021). One transgender female undergraduate reported past experiences of feeling unsafe when using male toilets as she 'wasn't out'a rational concern considering that some TNB individuals experience violence when trying to access gender-specific spaces (e.g.…”

“…(b) Addressing a lack of education Many of the negative experiences presented seems to be resultant of one common denominator; that is, a lack of education on TNB issues in cisgender peers (Mearns et al, 2020;Storrie and Rohleder, 2018). It also appears that the only source of education on TNB issues across university campuses is TNB students themselves.…”

Exploring trans people's lives in Britain, trans studies, geography and beyond: A review of research progress

“…Mearns et al. (2020) centralise these concerns by exploring trans people's university campus experiences, expanding on geographical inequalities which trans people must negotiate within higher education spaces (see also Nicolazzo, 2016a, 2016b, 2017). These publications have centralised trans people's stories within literature exploring queer urban lives.…”