The department confirmed that our proposed changes to the curriculum are now official policy. Seeing our perspectives honored in the classroom makes the months of difficult conversations worth it. I will keep a close watch to ensure this remains a permanent home for trans visibility.
May 17, 2021
Final supporters
UPDATE 4/15/22:
The professor that used to teach PSYC328 has been replaced with a trans professor who is reconstructing the curriculum to include content about trans experiences. Thank you all for your support thus far!! This is a huge step in the right direction, especially as lawmakers continue to deny trans people access to life-saving, gender affirming mental healthcare.
That being said, we are far from the finish line. The mental health crisis that trans people are experiencing in the US right now has only gotten worse since the proposal of 240+ bills that target the rights and inclusion of trans people-- all in 2022. On top of this, multiple states are actively trying to legally prohibit educators from discussing any matters surrounding gender identity or sexual orientation. Because of this, I am forming a Genderqueer Psychology committee that focuses on extending trans perspectives everywhere they are missing and needed. If you are a UIUC psychology major and you are interested, contact me via my email, which is listed below.
Let me catch you up:
The Psychology of Gender (328) course curriculum at UIUC blatantly omits critical information about transgender, nonbinary, genderqueer, and gender nonconforming people. Department members have made several claims about why this course will not be discussing genderqueer people. The most prominent claim being that “there are not enough studies” surrounding gender queer people and psychology. This is false; towards the bottom of the attached document, there are several recent studies that were disregarded in the conception of the course. Our professor has also stated that to compensate for this erasure, we will be having a unit discussing the statistical prevalence of hate crimes against our communities. This is inadequate representation, and the notion that we are only relevant to this extent is dehumanizing and entirely inaccurate. Our professor has doubled down multiple times throughout the semester on the course’s primary and exclusionary focus on cisgender people.
Here is our main goal:
We need to ensure that the UIUC Psychology Department requires the inclusion of gender queer people in its program. Not one unit about violence against us, not multiple messages that we aren’t relevant, but inclusive representation that we will explicitly define and outline. Our demand is this: we want the Psychology of Gender 328 course to include content regarding genderqueer people & psychology, and we want a new, separate psychology course titled “Genderqueer Psychology,” which will be a required course for all psychology majors with the following concentrations: diversity science, cognitive, developmental, interdisciplinary, clinical-community, and social psychology. We believe that students in these concentrations will be the people that genderqueer people are most likely to look to as mental health resources, so they should be educated appropriately.
That being said, I am in no way fully equipped to represent every genderqueer student’s best interest in this statement. If you feel that I am missing something, you can reach out to me at the email address below. Feel free to share the document and the petition with others who might be interested.
Email: [email protected]
For more information, please visit and share the link below:
Gender Inclusivity in UIUC Psychology
Updates
April 11, 2021
Seeing 250 names on this page confirms that I am not the only one exhausted by the outdated curriculum in our department. It feels incredible to see so many peers acknowledge that our experiences belong in the classroom. This is the foundation we need to finally demand better for every trans student coming after us.
Reached 250 supporters
April 10, 2021
April 7, 2021
The department continues to offer excuses about needing more research while trans students suffer in silence. I am spending my time compiling a syllabus of overlooked scholarship to prove that our history and our lived experiences are more than valid enough to teach. Please keep sending me your stories because they are proving we deserve a place in this curriculum.
Reached 100 supporters
April 6, 2021
16 Comments
Wether it be out of bias, ignorance, or other things, the fact that Genderqueer studies is not a required unit and/or class is unacceptable. At this point, it is obvious that the college does not adequately prepare their students for their professions. Genderqueer people are real, and the college is acting like they’re not by not preparing their psychology majors to the full extent that they can. Simply talking about the hate crime percentages is not enough, and it’s inexcusable. It’s also incredibly disappointing that the college is not striving to do better for their students this way.
The executive board of the Latino Student Association supports the integration of genderqueer psychology into the psychology curriculum.
This should an important part of any gender class, discussing people not in the gender binary.
Extremely disappointed in the so-called “diverse and inclusive” U of I’s unwillingness to require inclusion of trans and genderqueer content in applicable courses. I hope this petition fixes that at least within the psych department.
it is wild that we have to ask for this in 2022. psyc 328 needs to actually reflect the real world, not just what was in textbooks from 20 years ago.
To be against this is to be transphobic.
Thank you for doing this!
Share Petition
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The department confirmed that our proposed changes to the curriculum are now official policy. Seeing our perspectives honored in the classroom makes the months of difficult conversations worth it. I will keep a close watch to ensure this remains a permanent home for trans visibility.
May 17, 2021
Final supporters
UPDATE 4/15/22:
The professor that used to teach PSYC328 has been replaced with a trans professor who is reconstructing the curriculum to include content about trans experiences. Thank you all for your support thus far!! This is a huge step in the right direction, especially as lawmakers continue to deny trans people access to life-saving, gender affirming mental healthcare.
That being said, we are far from the finish line. The mental health crisis that trans people are experiencing in the US right now has only gotten worse since the proposal of 240+ bills that target the rights and inclusion of trans people-- all in 2022. On top of this, multiple states are actively trying to legally prohibit educators from discussing any matters surrounding gender identity or sexual orientation. Because of this, I am forming a Genderqueer Psychology committee that focuses on extending trans perspectives everywhere they are missing and needed. If you are a UIUC psychology major and you are interested, contact me via my email, which is listed below.
Let me catch you up:
The Psychology of Gender (328) course curriculum at UIUC blatantly omits critical information about transgender, nonbinary, genderqueer, and gender nonconforming people. Department members have made several claims about why this course will not be discussing genderqueer people. The most prominent claim being that “there are not enough studies” surrounding gender queer people and psychology. This is false; towards the bottom of the attached document, there are several recent studies that were disregarded in the conception of the course. Our professor has also stated that to compensate for this erasure, we will be having a unit discussing the statistical prevalence of hate crimes against our communities. This is inadequate representation, and the notion that we are only relevant to this extent is dehumanizing and entirely inaccurate. Our professor has doubled down multiple times throughout the semester on the course’s primary and exclusionary focus on cisgender people.
Here is our main goal:
We need to ensure that the UIUC Psychology Department requires the inclusion of gender queer people in its program. Not one unit about violence against us, not multiple messages that we aren’t relevant, but inclusive representation that we will explicitly define and outline. Our demand is this: we want the Psychology of Gender 328 course to include content regarding genderqueer people & psychology, and we want a new, separate psychology course titled “Genderqueer Psychology,” which will be a required course for all psychology majors with the following concentrations: diversity science, cognitive, developmental, interdisciplinary, clinical-community, and social psychology. We believe that students in these concentrations will be the people that genderqueer people are most likely to look to as mental health resources, so they should be educated appropriately.
That being said, I am in no way fully equipped to represent every genderqueer student’s best interest in this statement. If you feel that I am missing something, you can reach out to me at the email address below. Feel free to share the document and the petition with others who might be interested.
Email: [email protected]
For more information, please visit and share the link below:
Gender Inclusivity in UIUC Psychology
Updates
April 11, 2021
Seeing 250 names on this page confirms that I am not the only one exhausted by the outdated curriculum in our department. It feels incredible to see so many peers acknowledge that our experiences belong in the classroom. This is the foundation we need to finally demand better for every trans student coming after us.
Reached 250 supporters
April 10, 2021
April 7, 2021
The department continues to offer excuses about needing more research while trans students suffer in silence. I am spending my time compiling a syllabus of overlooked scholarship to prove that our history and our lived experiences are more than valid enough to teach. Please keep sending me your stories because they are proving we deserve a place in this curriculum.
Reached 100 supporters
April 6, 2021
16 Comments
As a genderqueer person I find it important to see people like myself be represented in the curriculum
Wether it be out of bias, ignorance, or other things, the fact that Genderqueer studies is not a required unit and/or class is unacceptable. At this point, it is obvious that the college does not adequately prepare their students for their professions. Genderqueer people are real, and the college is acting like they’re not by not preparing their psychology majors to the full extent that they can. Simply talking about the hate crime percentages is not enough, and it’s inexcusable. It’s also incredibly disappointing that the college is not striving to do better for their students this way.
The executive board of the Latino Student Association supports the integration of genderqueer psychology into the psychology curriculum.
This should an important part of any gender class, discussing people not in the gender binary.
Extremely disappointed in the so-called “diverse and inclusive” U of I’s unwillingness to require inclusion of trans and genderqueer content in applicable courses. I hope this petition fixes that at least within the psych department.
it is wild that we have to ask for this in 2022. psyc 328 needs to actually reflect the real world, not just what was in textbooks from 20 years ago.
To be against this is to be transphobic.
Thank you for doing this!
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As a genderqueer person I find it important to see people like myself be represented in the curriculum