Hello! Next week there’s a trans person joining my club for training. Because I´m not trans and don’t have anyone close to me that I know is trans I was wondering if I could get some suggestions on how to support them. We’ve never had a trans person here so this is might be kinda new for lots of people. I know some general stuff like I should probably ask them for their pronouns and which changing room they wanna use (we only got one for men and one for women, so I was thinking if they’re not comfortable they can use the restroom for people with a disability thats right around the corner in the same building). So aside from that, any suggestions?
PS I know this is a transfem community and I don’t know the identity of this person but this was the largest trans community I could find, if theres a better place to ask lemme know!
Edit: I don’t wanna share which sport exactly cus of privacy but its not a team sport so at least at training there won’t be any separation based on gender
I think taking away the burden of choice regarding the changing room could be nice – towards a trans woman at least. So, if they’re a woman, just show them the women’s changing room. If they show hesitancy, then tell them they’re of course free to use the other room as well.
A trans woman in men’s changing room can end up encountering some seriously shitty shit. A trans woman in women’s changing room is definitely safe, and unlikely to end up in any negative encounters whatsoever.
I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by how positively cis women react to trans women! 🩷
Many trans women can feel insecure about their right to use the women’s changing room, so gently pushing them that way as showing that as the assumed default will help them.
Also make sure that the customer knows that if there should be any conflicts with other customers, you definitely will have their back!
Oh so more like saying it like: “heres the *their gender* changing room, in case you prefer the other one its over there”?
Gotcha
I will!