Trans, Non-Binary, and Gender Non-Conforming Resource Guide

*Note: The process for faculty and staff is in the relevant section

How to Update your Chosen Name through MyAccess

While on campus, students may want to use a name other than their legal name. You may request use of your chosen first name instead of your legal first name via MyAccess. Follow the steps below:

• Log into MyAccess
• Select “Personal Information”
• Select “View/Update Biographical Information”
• At the bottom of the page, find “Chosen First Name” and 
  “Chosen Middle Name”
• Once you have entered the name, click “Submit Changes”

Where your Chosen Name will be Updated

• Class Rosters will reflect your chosen name
• Blackboard and Canvas will reflect both legal and chosen names
• For your email, your NetID will stay the same, but your chosen name will appear as your email name within 1-2 business days
• Chosen name will update on the GU Directory within 24 hours
• You can have a new Go Card issued for free with your chosen first name

Your legal name will still be used for records in student health, financial aid, official transcripts, diplomas, payroll, and other instances where a legal name is required by law. The Student Health Center and the Official of Student Financial Services will have access to both chosen name and legal name and should use the chosen name whenever possible. Finally, because student addresses are tied to students’ legal names, any notices sent to your home address, including tuition and other payments due to the university, will use the legal name.

If you do change your legal name, you may return and update your records at the university via the Office of the Registrar with the Alumni Association as appropriate.

Keeping Your Legal Name Private

If you do not want Georgetown to share your legal first name with external organizations, you can request FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) directory exclusion. This prevents Georgetown from sharing directory information with any outside source.
 
Under the FERPA exclusion guidelines, you can also exclude any release of student information by submitting a disclosure of student information form to the University’s Registrar’s Office. It is important to know that choosing to request FERPA exclusion means that you will not be listed in the directory and the University cannot confirm your student status (e.g., for the purposes of credit card and insurance verifications, etc.). For more information, please contact the Georgetown University Registrar’s Office at 202-687-4020 or univregistrar@georgetown.edu.

Access the full Chosen Name Policy here: Chosen Name Policy
Access the request form to update your legal name here: Name/Bio Update Request Form

You are able to use bathrooms that correspond to your gender identity or expression in all public buildings on campus. Many single-stall bathrooms are All Gender Inclusive and accessible. You can look for the signs or find these bathrooms at maps.georgetown.edu under “All Gender Bathrooms.” 

Map of All Gender Bathrooms

Alphabetical List of All Gender Bathrooms

Yates is dedicated to providing reasonable accommodations based on guidelines established by DC Human Rights Law and best practices.

• All members may access locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity
• DC law requires that members use private change rooms, and shower facilities where appropriate
• We encourage members to talk to Staff at Yates if there is a concern or a question

Please contact Meghan Dimsa, Director of Yates Field House, at 202-687-2400 or campusrecreation@georgetown.edu with any concerns. 

The Office of Residential Living is committed to finding on-campus housing that suits and is respectful of a student’s self-identification.  Gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation are protected in the Office of Residential Living’s Non-Discrimination Policy.

Residential Living will house all trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming students based on their gender identity once a student requests this. For more information, email residentialliving@georgetown.edu.
 
View the Non-Discrimination Policy and other housing policies here: Residential Living’s Housing Handbook

Any member of the university community can report a possible bias-related incident through a brief online form at biasreporting.georgetown.edu. Through the Bias Reporting System, Georgetown is able to track and review bias-related incidents. 

Contact the LGBTQ Resource Center at 202-687-3546 or lgbtq@georgetown.edu if you would like help reporting through the online form or want to discuss the bias-related incident without reporting through the Bias Reporting System. 

LGBTQ Resource Center
   Located at 325 Leavey Center
   Open Monday-Friday 9 am – 5 pm
   Phone: 202-687-3546 
   Email: lgbtq@georgetown.edu
   Facebook and Instagram: LGBTQatGeorgetown

Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS)
   Located Behind Darnall
   Walk-in Hours: M/W/Th/F:  9:30-11:30 and 1:30-3:30, Tu:  10:30-11:30 and 1:30-3:30  
   Phone: 202-687-6985 during business hours, 202-444-7243 after business hours
   LGBTQ Specialist at CAPS: Dr. Matt Worhach, Ph.D.

CAPS provides free evaluations, crisis assessment and intervention, referral to community resources, and support and therapy groups. The fee for each individual psychotherapy session is $10 and the fee for each psychiatry visit is $15  (these sessions are free for students in GSP and are flexible in cases of financial hardship).

Health Education Services (HES)
   Located in Poulton Hall, 1437 37th St
   Open Monday-Friday 10 am – 5 pm  
   Phone: 202-687-8949
   Email: guhealthed@georgetown.edu

HES provides confidential crisis response, assessment, referrals, and advocacy for concerns related to sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking, alcohol and other drugs, sexual health, pregnancy, nutrition, body image, and eating disorders. All services are completely free and confidential.

Student Health Center
   Located between St. Mary’s Hall and Epi
   Call 202-687-2200 or visit their website to schedule an appointment

Faculty and Staff who wish to have a different Chosen Name than their Legal Name may do so via GMS and work with Human Resources to update their non-legal records. 

To make this change in GMS, please follow these steps:

• Log in to GMS
• Click the cloud icon in the top right corner and select ‘View Profile’
• Under the actions drop down menu, select ‘Personal Data’ and then ‘Change my Preferred Name’
• Uncheck the ‘Use Legal Name as Preferred Name’ box and enter your chosen name into the fields below.
• Hit submit

 
Within 1-2 business days, your chosen name should be updated and reflected in core Georgetown systems such as GMS, the GU Directory, Box, and Google Apps.

Human Resources will also work with Faculty and Staff to offer appropriate services to guide them through Legal Name changes.

Alumni who wish to have a different Chosen Name than their Legal Name may do so by emailing an email to alumni.georgetown.edu or by calling 202-687-3604.

This will update the alumni contact information in GU360 and should cover all mailings and emails from Georgetown.

Georgetown University acknowledges the importance of recognizing and respecting the many identities that make up our diverse student body. We encourage Faculty to think about how they can foster inclusive classrooms, both by including affirming statements on their syllabi and by becoming more educated about current knowledge and best practices. Please refer to the following:

Statements Approved for Syllabus Inclusion by Main Campus Executive Faculty

          Short: In this classroom, we respect and refer to people using the names and personal pronouns that they share; we invite and encourage people to share them

          Long:
Georgetown University acknowledges the importance of recognizing and respecting the many identities that make up our diverse student body. In order to help foster equitable classroom environments, I invite you, if you would like, to inform us of how you wish to be called both in terms of your name and your pronouns (he/him/his, she/her/hers, they/them/theirs, etc.). If you wish to update how your name is listed on your GoCard, class rosters, GU directory, and name as it appears on email (not NetID), you can do so through MyAccess.

          Pronouns can be a way to affirm someone’s gender identity, but they can also be unrelated to a person’s identity. They are simply a public way in which people are referred to in place of their name (e.g. “he” or “she” or “they” or “ze” or something else).

          I will do my best to address and refer to all students accordingly and will support you in doing so as well.

Best Practices for Inclusive Pedagogy

A few simple ways you can model inclusive behaviors include:

• Avoiding language that implies or reinforces binary genders.
  • Instead of “ladies and gentlemen,” “boys and girls,” “sir/madam,” try using “class,” “everyone,” “students,” “friends and colleagues,” “everyone.”
  • Instead of referring to a student as “he” or “she” in class, try using “they” until you know their pronouns. 
• Staying informed about the most appropriate terms to describe trans people, trans issues, and gender.
  • “Trans” and “transgender” are adjectives and should not be used as nouns.
  • Instead of “transsexual,” please use “trans” or “transgender” to mean a broader umbrella category, if that’s what you mean.
  • Instead of “sex change” or “sex reassignment,” please use “gender affirmation” or “transition care” or “change of gender marker” to refer to medical transition or change of a marker on a document or in a database, depending on the context.
  • Instead of “biological man” or “biological woman,” please use “cisgender man” or “cisgender woman” or perhaps “non-transgender man” or “non-transgender woman.”
  • Instead of “feminine/female pronouns” or “masculine/male pronouns,” please use “she/her pronouns” or “he/him pronouns.”
  • Instead of “preferred gender pronouns,” please use “personal pronouns” or just “pronouns.” 
  • Instead of “transvestite,” please use “cross dresser.”
  • Instead of “hermaphrodite,” please use “intersex.”
  • Instead of “homosexual,” please use “gay” or “lesbian” as adjectives or “member of the LGBTQ community” as a noun.
  • Instead of “lifestyle” or “preference,” please use “orientation” or “identity.”

• Not asking trans, non-binary, or gender non-conforming students about personal information like birth name, surgery, hormones, genitals, or sexual orientation. 
• For more tips, check out some of the following links:
  • Stonewall Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • LGBTQ Equity Center, University of Maryland
  • Campus Pride: 16 Ways to be a Transgender Advocate and Ally
  • GLAAD: Tips for Allies of Transgender People