Across State Lines: A Comparison of Transgender and Gender Expansive Provisions and Support at Public Institutions of Higher Education in the Inland Northwest

Faculty Mentor

Sarah Tsikalas

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Start Date

May 2025

End Date

May 2025

Location

PUB 319

Primary Discipline of Presentation

Geography

Abstract

The current 2025 Trump Administration deals major setbacks to the transgender and gender expansive communities (TGE). The Trump campaign invested around $17 million in advertisements promoting anti-transgender rhetoric (AdImpact for NPR, 2024), and the recently inaugurated administration has set to limiting and abolishing many rights for this community. This shift in political climate presents an urgency in protecting TGE rights across shared cultural spaces, ensuring their safety and inclusion. Geographers have a responsibility to bring light to these discriminatory messages and the ongoing inequities of shared spaces. Our research answers this call to action with a focus on the university campus. Specifically, we investigate gendered spaces at public institutions of higher education across the Inland Northwest, comparing the resources available in Washington and Idaho. Aiming to understand the limits of inclusive spaces in the inland Northwest and how it applies to TGE communities in higher education, we utilize publicly available data, such as campus websites and policy documents, to conduct an analysis of the equitability and inclusivity of these campus environments. We ask to what extent these campus spaces provide respect and validate the experiences of students, faculty, and staff.

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May 7th, 12:40 PM May 7th, 1:00 PM

Across State Lines: A Comparison of Transgender and Gender Expansive Provisions and Support at Public Institutions of Higher Education in the Inland Northwest

PUB 319

The current 2025 Trump Administration deals major setbacks to the transgender and gender expansive communities (TGE). The Trump campaign invested around $17 million in advertisements promoting anti-transgender rhetoric (AdImpact for NPR, 2024), and the recently inaugurated administration has set to limiting and abolishing many rights for this community. This shift in political climate presents an urgency in protecting TGE rights across shared cultural spaces, ensuring their safety and inclusion. Geographers have a responsibility to bring light to these discriminatory messages and the ongoing inequities of shared spaces. Our research answers this call to action with a focus on the university campus. Specifically, we investigate gendered spaces at public institutions of higher education across the Inland Northwest, comparing the resources available in Washington and Idaho. Aiming to understand the limits of inclusive spaces in the inland Northwest and how it applies to TGE communities in higher education, we utilize publicly available data, such as campus websites and policy documents, to conduct an analysis of the equitability and inclusivity of these campus environments. We ask to what extent these campus spaces provide respect and validate the experiences of students, faculty, and staff.