Metropolitan State University of Denver and award-winning
instructor, author and community activist Matt Kailey will offer a full-term,
three-credit course in Transgender Studies for the spring semester beginning
January 2013. The course, one of only a few such classes in the country, will
be offered through the Women’s Studies Department.
“Colorado has become an increasingly transgender-friendly
state,” says Kailey. “We have employment laws and public accommodations laws in
place that protect transgender and gender-diverse people. As trans people
continue to increase in visibility, many professions will be working with this
population. This course will help prepare future therapists, educators, medical
personnel, businesspeople, political figures, and other professionals for
working with transgender people.”
Topics to be covered include basic transgender terminology
and etiquette (did you know that there’s a “T-word” that is generally
considered an unacceptable slur?); the history of the transgender movement and
transgender people (did you know that the Obama administration was the first to
appoint an openly trans woman to an important government post?); social,
medical, and legal issues (did you know that Colorado was the first venue ever
to issue a hate crimes finding in the murder of a trans person?); transgender
children and youth (did you know that a Colorado Girl Scout troop caused a
national controversy by admitting a transgender scout?); resources for
transgender people and service professionals (did you know that Colorado has
one of the oldest gender centers in the country?); and many other topics
essential to an understanding of transgender people and issues.
“This course will equip MSU students with the knowledge and
skills they need for working in the 21st century, no matter what profession
they enter,” says Kailey. “Metropolitan State University’s support of this
course demonstrates that Colorado remains on the cutting edge when it comes to
issues of gender diversity.”
