In the summer of 2008, Sarah Fielding '09 traveled to California’s bay area for an internship with social activist, Jessica Pettitt. She devoted her time to researching the difficulties experienced by transgender people involved in Greek life. The result is the Lambda 10 Project Fraternity & Sorority Transgender Resource Guide “Beginning the Conversation,” for which Fielding is the lead author.

On college and university campuses where a lot of social activity is based around fraternities and sororities, it can be extraordinarily difficult for transgender people to find a place where they are comfortable and accepted. Those who are open about their gender identity are kept from joining organizations of the gender they identify with, while those who are not open face high levels of anxiety over being publicly outed, humiliated, and kicked out of their organization.

Fielding interviewed transgender college students and alumni as well as Greek life advisors for the guide. She worked with them to understand and draw attention to the complexities of being transgender in a gender-exclusive organization.

“I was talking directly with a lot of college-aged students and recent graduates, working with these people in an editorial capacity, helping them tell their stories in a way that let them take charge of their own narratives,” says Fielding.

During the research process, Fielding discovered that, while many fraternities and sororities are ready to include transgender members, the policies of the national offices governing the organizations are not.

The guide serves as both an educational tool, dispelling myths surrounding transgender people, and as a call to action. Fielding described the project as, not an answer book, but a place to begin the conversation about transgender issues in sorority and fraternity life.

“Working on this guide was an empowering experience,” Fielding says, “It showed me how accessible activism is, and that I didn’t need to be a part of a radical group in order to make significant change.”

The resource guide will be published by Campus Pride, the only national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization for student leaders and campus groups working to create a safer college environment for LGBT students. It will be unveiled mid-November at the “Out and Greek” leadership conference, and presented again at a national conference for fraternity advisors. Beginning in November, the resource guide will be available to download from www.campuspride.org and www.jessicapettitt.com.

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