Contributing to success: Q Center gets a gender-affirming upgrade

November is Transgender Awareness Month, and the Q Center is celebrating by implementing a brand-new initiative: inspired and organized by alumni and current students, the Gender Bender Closet will soon be filled with gender-affirming gear/apparel options (including chest binders, tucking underwear and packers, for example).

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"Last year, we assessed the need for free gender-affirming clothing being offered in the Gender Bender Closet," said Nick Martin, director of the Q Center. "We received an overwhelmingly clear response that the campus community needs these items."

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These items are purchased with funds from the Contribution Project, which asks undergraduate students to submit a service project contributing to societal or personal progress.

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Brandon Nudelman - a sophomore psychology major and the director of Keshet, an organization for LGBTQ+ Jewish people on campus - shared that his first thought on hearing about the project was the difficulty of obtaining gender-affirming items on campus or in the local Binghamton community.

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"It's very hard and expensive to provide for yourself," he said. "We decided - 'Let's partner with the Q Center and do that for our community.'"

Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.

Why is Transgender Awareness Month and this project important?

"You're not so dissimilar to your trans family. Everybody wants to be happy and loved and to feel confident in themselves, and that looks like different things for different people. Everybody has felt like they're not enough of a man, not enough of a woman, at some point. And you do things to alleviate that, to feel more grounded in yourself, to feel more at home in your body. But products for trans people that help with that are very expensive, they're very hard to access, and there's a stigma." - Brandon Nudelman

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"There's so much confusion about transgender people. A lot of the time, when people have those kinds of biases, it can be worked through with education. Trans Awareness Month is important because there are still so many obstacles facing trans people, and it's important to be aware that it's still an issue and there's still things to be done." - Riya Bolander

Launched in 2019, the Cornell initiative begins with a question: "If you had $400, what would you do to make an impact on your community?" After a simple submission process, students can turn that dream into reality. The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) was heavily involved in bringing the project to Binghamton's campus in 2023.

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"In my experience, our students are eager and ready to get involved. They just need someone to believe in them or give them an opportunity, and I think it's important to provide a multitude," said Sara Hall '01 MSW '07, a senior assistant director of the CCE. "Getting students hooked on that idea of being active and engaged citizens in any way lights that fire in them. the Contribution Project is one avenue to spark that interest, and it's exciting to be a part of that opportunity."

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The project includes students from three campuses: Cornell, Binghamton and Stony Brook University. While some of these students define community as their campus, others contribute to their local neighborhood, their hometowns or even elsewhere in the world. Once a project is submitted, 200 ideas are randomly selected - there is no review process and no committee. After the project is completed, they are provided the opportunity to share their ideas at a gathering at Cornell.

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"I was going around and just talking to people about this project where they can submit an idea and get funding, and they thought I was asking them about their car's extended warranty. They didn't think it was real! But it is -submit an idea and you could get funded to start and do a project," said Jeremy Pelletier, MPA '12, the assistant director of campus engagement at the Center for Civic Engagement. "We're probably not solving world hunger with the Contribution Project, but these little products - you put them all together and they can have a really meaningful impact in the community."

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Three of Binghamton's students - Nudelman, John Zaharakis and Riya Bolander, a double alumnus in psychology and music performance (2024) - were funded, and all three defined community through the Q Center. Nudelman and Zaharakis eventually combined their projects; Bolander donated their project funds separately, through gift cards.

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"The main reason why I wanted to do this project is that the Closet is really useful, but there are very few specific gender-affirming items, because it is all donation-based," Bolander said. "College is a huge time of exploration for a lot of people, the first time away from home, and I think that being able to access that without barriers is important. 40 dollars might not sound like that much, but it's a lot for a college student, especially if their parents are still looking at their finances."

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Often, Nudelman says, if an organization offers something for trans people, it's a used binder or non-physical resource such as a referral to a medical office or resources to get a support system. While that can be useful, he says the picture and needs of the community are much larger than that.

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"Nobody is too small to make change. Whatever social communities you're a part of - you can fundraise, and you can get money and drive awareness," he added. "It took a couple of emails, and it took a bit of stress, but it's possible. You're only one person, but people want to help you, and they want to partner with you and they want to get good things out into the world."

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Purchased from various online retailers, Nudelman and Zaharakis tried to remedy the need of the community by acquiring a variety of items to suit all types of bodies. Different companies, like RodeoH or Transguy Supply, provided discounts or donations of their own when they learned of the project.

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"For people to come and pick up items without having the cost be a barrier, and without feeling unwelcome from doing that - it's so important," Nudelman said. "I think I underestimated how good it would feel when somebody takes something. All I have to say is 'Come over. I've got what you need in a box. I've got you.' I feel like I win the lottery every single time."

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Bolander, who took a slightly different tact, created a Linktree and poster that will hang in the Closet, directing people with funds to online retailers and those without to Q Center staff, who can use Bolander's Contribution gift cards to order supplies with individuals in mind.

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"The Q Center was very instrumental in getting me out of my shell," they said. "It would have been nice to have had the supportive community and resources while I was figuring myself out. The idea that other people could have access is so nice, and I hope that this project helps with a lot of people's journeys."

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Thanks to the CCE and the Contribution Project, these students are making a difference in their communities, one step at a time.

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"I'm so thankful for the dedicated student leaders involved in this initiative for finding funding for this new opportunity and working through many of the logistical details to create this new resource during Transgender Awareness Month," Martin said. "We look forward to continuing to develop this new initiative into something sustainable for years to come."

Trans Awareness Month 2024

• 3-5 p.m. Nov. 1, in the Q Center - Fashion w/ Flavor Fridays (FFF) - Trans Awareness Month Kickoff

• 2-6 p.m. Nov. 3, in the Q Center - Dungeons and Dragons - One-Shot Campaign

• Nov. 4 - Trans Awareness Month Tabling in Tillman Lobby

• 5-6 p.m. Nov. 6, on the Spine - Flag and Chalk the Spine

• 6-7 p.m. Nov. 7, in the Q Center - Sticker Making w/ ETS

• 3-5 p.m. Nov. 8, in the Q Center - Fashion w/ Flavor Fridays (FFF) - Destress Jewelry Making

• 4:30-7 p.m. Nov. 11, in the Q Center and Bartle Breezeway - Chop and Shop - Haircuts and Thrifting

• Nov. 12, in the Q Center - PrEP Awareness Event w/ STAP, SOGIE Educators and BHealthy

• 5-7 p.m. Nov. 14, in the Q Center - Beauty Beyond Binary: Makeup Workshop

• 3-5 p.m. Nov. 15, in the Q Center - Fashion w/ Flavor Fridays (FFF) - Film Series for Trans Awareness Month: DISCLOSURE

• Nov. 18 - Trans Day of Remembrance Tabling in Tillman Lobby

• 5-6 p.m. Nov. 19, in the Q Center - Queer-ies: Trans History

• 6-7 p.m. Nov. 20, in APP 111 - Trans Day of Remembrance Vigil w/ Transcend

• 10 a.m. -12:30 p.m., Nov. 22, in UU 124 - Active Ally Level 1 Workshop 10-12:30p in UU 124

• 3-5 p.m. Nov. 22, in the Q Center - Fashion w/ Flavor Fridays (FFF) - Trans Trivia

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