Guiding Frameworks

---

---

Queer Crit

What is Queer Crit?

It’s a micro-theoretical perspective under Critical Race Theory that addresses the racialized experiences of queer people. 

For the purposes of this toolkit, we offer an expanded version of QueerCrit to reflect the racialized experiences of trans and non-binary people, as referenced in the parenthesis below.

The six core tenets of QueerCrit are: 

1. the intercentricity of race and racism with sexuality and homophobia (gender and transphobia/transmisia) 
2. challenging dominant ideologies that center the needs, experiences, and values of white straight men (cisgender people)
3. understanding the historical context that informs the current context of the lives of queer (trans and non-binary) people of color
4. centering the knowledge and lived experiences of queer (trans and non-binary) people of color through narrative inquiry
5. utilizing an interdisciplinary approach
6. working to end racism and homophobia (transphobia/transmisia) as part of broader efforts to end all oppression and move toward a more socially just and equitable world for queer (trans and non-binary) people of color 

(Misawa, 2012)

How does QueerCrit apply?

Colleges have historically and currently centered the needs, experiences, and values of white cisgender men. Campus facilities like restrooms and housing, faculty roll call practices, the lack of LGBTQ campus centers (and the whiteness of the centers in operation), the erasure of the historical and current presence of Two Spirit people, and the siloed nature of campus services (just to name a few) have created the conditions that push trans and nonbinary community college students out for long periods of time.

70% of non-binary community college students in California are Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) (CCCCO DataMart, n.d.). As such, our work will be ineffective if we center – intentionally or intentionally – white trans people and overlook trans and non-binary BIPOC students’ experiences at the intersections of racism and transphobia, including and beyond spaces dedicated to LGBTQIA2+ students. Our work must challenge white supremacy and overturn the effects of colonialism in potential solutions. Creating more inclusive and equitable spaces for trans and non-binary students means also creating more inclusive and equitable spaces for students of color, as well as for students with disabilities, undocumented students, current and former foster youth, currently or formerly incarcerated students, and students from other marginalized and disenfranchised communities. 

Also check out LatCrit, TribalCrit, AsianCrit, and FemCrit!

---

Design Justice

What is Design Justice?

Design Justice is a set of guiding principles that centers the needs of marginalized communities; emphasizes innovation that decolonizes current practices, policies, protocols, and programs; and ensures that those impacted by the innovation have a role in their initial design and continued updates.

What are the principles of Design Justice, and how are they applied to this work?

The 10 principles of Design Justice are: 

1. We use design to sustain, heal, and empower our communities, as well as to seek liberation from exploitative and oppressive systems.
2. We center the voices of those who are directly impacted by the outcomes of the design process.
   • Trans and non-binary students have been at the center of each stage of the process of creating this toolkit, nearly all with other marginalized identities. The students who helped shape this toolkit were BIPOC, undocumented, non-traditional age, veterans, parents. They were students with visible and invisible disabilities and neurodivergencies. Even among students who shared identities, they had a range of experiences that helped inform the content of the Toolkit. Thus, the Toolkit will highlight the needs of the diverse trans and non-binary communities across the California Community Colleges.
3. We prioritize design’s impact on the community over the intentions of the designer.
   • Though the author of this toolkit had a personal interest in the work as a trans/non-binary person working in the California Community College system, staying in close touch with trans and non-binary students allowed this project to remain focused on what is most needed for them. The creation of this toolkit and the contents contained in it were reiterated as needs time and time again.
4. We view change as emergent from an accountable, accessible, and collaborative process, rather than as a point at the end of a process.
   • This toolkit is not a culmination of the end of this project, and use of this toolkit should not signify the end of a college’s work to better support trans and non-binary students. The contents of the toolkit reflect where California Community Colleges stand at the very point in time in which it was written. Any of the initiatives contained in this toolkit could be better supported by – or significantly hindered by – a change in law, policy, or funding, not to mention more subtle shifts in campus culture and societal acceptance of trans and non-binary people. As such, it is expected that the contents of this toolkit must also change. Users of this toolkit are welcome to send any feedback to transcendtoolkit@gmail.com or connect with others across the state in the “Connect” section of the website.
5. We see the role of the designer as a facilitator rather than an expert.
   • The process of designing this toolkit came out of facilitated conversations with California Community College students and employees, along with non-profit employees and other key stakeholders. Conversations continued throughout the process of creating this toolkit – from content to platform to web design. None of this was conceptualized by the author alone.
6. We believe that everyone is an expert based on their own lived experience and that we all have unique and brilliant contributions to bring to the design process.
   • This is why the toolkit came out of so many conversations with students, employees, and others who will benefit from this toolkit!
7. We share design knowledge and tools with our communities.
   • Students, employees, and others were brought together throughout the creative process, where they were updated on progress and provided opportunities to share feedback. Each time, that feedback shaped the next few months’ work. Individual conversations were also held throughout the process and these, too, shaped both the creative process as well as the final product.
8. We work towards sustainable, community-led and -controlled outcomes.
   • The addition of the website allows this collective work to be sustained. Communities across the state can interact with each other through the site to ask questions, share success stories, troubleshoot challenges, and provide feedback for continued improvement of the site. 
9. We work towards non-exploitative solutions that reconnect us to the earth and to each other.
   • This project came out of community, and the aim is to enrich not only the work of individual colleges, but provide opportunity for colleges to come together and lift each other up to get to the next level of support. Colonization and westernization has kept us siloed, fighting to hold on to our own limited resources, focused on individual gain (sometimes at the expense of others). We are not separate from each other or from our surroundings, and we are only going to truly move forward if we re-connect with each other, with the land we live on, and all the beings that co-exist with us. Centered in anti-racism and de-colonization, the work contained in this toolkit aims to bring us back together, to know that support provided to the most marginalized ultimately betters us all. 
10. Before seeking new design solutions, we look for what is already working at the community level. We honor and uplift traditional, indigenous, and local knowledge and practices.
    • Initial research looked to four-year colleges’ trans and non-binary student support, support for other marginalized communities within California Community Colleges, and support for trans and non-binary students in communities surrounding the CCCs. Consideration was given to what is already working so as not to duplicate efforts, especially when resources are limited. The roles and support of Two Spirit peoples in indigenous communities in California and beyond – currently and historically – provided a guide and model of what could and should be as we work toward de-colonization.

---

Systems Theory/ Socioecological Model

Trans and non-binary community college students’ lives do not exist solely within the confines of the school. Thus, we can truly only understand and address inequities when we look at individual systems – national, organizational, familial, religious, medical, and more – and the connections between them within time and space. Similarly, the solution to the problem must also be addressed at all systemic levels.

For example, the state of affairs for trans and non-binary community college students in some other states, at this particular point in time, are quite different from those of trans and non-binary students in California. This is because of recent laws in those states that ban campus-wide trans student support. Here, we see how legal systems impact educational systems. We can take this further by looking at how these changes in law- and the advocacy that led to these changes – are in and of themselves impacted by an interplay of political, religious, and familial systems. 

Think of one change that you would like to make on campus to better support trans and non-binary students.

What systems are at play here?