Universities to offer Voice feminization therapy to help students live their gender identities

Campus Reform

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is offering “voice feminization therapy” for male students claiming to be transgender women.

As part of the university’s “Transitioning at UWM” resource, the university encourages students to utilize “voice feminization therapy for male-to-female transgender clients” offered by the UWM Speech and Language Clinic, which claims to treat “voice disorders in adults and children.” Elsewhere on the UWM website, the university claims voice feminization therapy is a “non-medical option” that allows transgender students to “live their gender identities.”

Michelle Johnson, the Media Content Manager at UWM, told Campus Reform that the school provides the voice feminization therapy “in compliance with nondiscrimination policies established by the university and the American Speech Language Hearing Association.”

The school also offers “gender therapy” for trans students at the UWM Norris Health Center and provides recommendations for students seeking “hormone therapy.”

The university also has over 50 “gender inclusive” restrooms on campus and guarantees students “the right” to use any bathroom they please. Transgender students are encouraged not to “feel limited to using gender inclusive ones alone.” Students using recreation center locker rooms are similarly encouraged to use whichever lockers rooms “align most with their gender identity and comfort levels.”

Johnson told Campus Reform that the university “provides a supportive, inclusive environment in which all students have the opportunity to be successful.” She also noted that the school’s nondiscrimination policy establishes a “safe environment for students regardless of gender identity.” Johnson also said to date, the university has not received any complaints about its bathroom policies.

In addition to its “transitioning” guide, the university website contains a “Coming Out as Transgender Guide” which includes advice for students “coming out” to their own parents or even their own children.

The university reassures its transgender students that “[s]ome parents will need to grieve over the dreams they’ve had for you before they see the new, more genuine life you are building for yourself.” The university also advises students that “there is no one right or wrong way” when “coming out” as transgender to children.

Additionally, the university tells its students who might have kids of their own that “[it’s] important to let your children explore their gender without trying to change or pressure them toward one gender expression.”

The university admits that “this may prove difficult” because students’ children may “refuse to wear the school uniform for their sex assigned at birth,” which the university claims “may be more than small refusals,” apparently indicating a child’s transgenderness.

The university guide also claims to bust several “myths” about transgender people, such as the myth that “transgender people are confused.” The university states as “fact” that they “are no more and no less confused than most people.” Similarly, UWM claims to bust the myth that “transgender people are sinners” by arguing that “[t]he number of transgender friendly places of worship is growing.”

The University also states as fact that “there is no ‘cure’ for transgender people,” claiming that “[t]he most reputable medical and psychotherapeutic groups” encourage being “true to your gender identity” (as opposed to being true to your biology).

Source: http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=6948