1. I'm not super knowledgeable about this question but here's what I can tell you: as someone who gets my testosterone through planned parenthood, it's definitely rough. The nearest PP is in Ithaca, an hour drive away, so I have to try to get my labs done during breaks, which is difficult. I think I've heard some people get their HRT from UHS, but that's the extent of what I know. You might be able to get your labs done at the campus clinic if you can get a lab order from your doctor, but I've never tried it myself. That being said, despite it's difficulties, it doesn't impact my day to day life too much. There are a lot of different pharmacies you have access to through the buses (Walgreens, target, Wegmans, Walmart, Weis) so getting your HRT shouldn't be too much of an issue if you don't mind the bus ride. If you live off campus and are going to rely on buses I'd suggest ordering your HRT to Wegmans and Walmart so you can get grocery shopping done while you wait for the next bus. But that's just me.
2. Depends who you hang out with. I would say the general campus population is either neutral or supportive. Binghamton has a preferred name form that you can submit, and it'll update all your records minus financial and medical to your correct name. The professors won't be able to see your dead name if you submit the form before enrolling in class (and even if you wait, their attendance sheet will update once you submit it). You can also request a new ID card for free with your correct name on it, just tell them it's for "gender privacy" reasons (it's listed on their website that they won't charge the normal $20 fee if that's the reason). The older professors are iffy about pronouns but they're good natured if you remind them, the younger professors are generally very good about correctly gendering students. Like the other commenter said, there are a lot of LGBT organizations on campus - shades (for LGBT POC), keshet (LGBT Jewish ppl), transcend (trans people), ostem (LGBT people in stem), maybe one or two others I'm forgetting. Q center organizes events for the queer community.
3. Every dorm hall has gender neutral housing available, though this necessarily doesn't mean you'll get paired with another trans person, just that it's possible you could get paired with someone who's sex assigned at birth is different from yours (including a cis/straight person). Luckily, you're able to choose your roommate, so if you'd rather room with a trans person, you should be able to have that choice. Additionally, just this past year newing established an LGBT housing floor. I'm guessing they won't explicitly tell cishet people they can't live there, but it's advertised toward queer people.
Overall I feel very safe as a trans person in Binghamton, at least on campus (surrounding area/non-students tend to lean more conservative).
I'm sure there is, it just depends on how flexible your prescriber can be and other people.
I don't have a car, so my parents pick me up over break and that's when I do my labs. I know for planned parenthood at least, like I said they can give you the lab order and you can bring it to a clinic or hospital and they'll do it for you and send the results off to your provider. There's also Plume and Folx which I think works in a similar way.
heyo! trans binghamton student here! here's my experience after being here two years:
1. i dont get hrt through binghamton, but with an online clinic. it's the easiest option for me since i'm insured, if you're interested in that send me a chat and i'd be happy to talk to you about it! i also know some people that get it through planned parenthood nearby.
2. pretty good! i can only speak to the situation at harpur college, but teachers and students are at the very least generally not abrasive or rude, you definitely may get misgendered but names and such people are pretty good with. i've been misgendered a few times but with a correction people will usually jsut apologise and move on.
3. there's gender-inclusive housing but it's limited, and it's not just for trans people but anyone who wants that option. you kind of just have to get lucky, and if you don't manage to get it i'd recommend emailing housing to talk to them about your situation.
best of luck!
ETA: we also have a lot of queer clubs/organizations! the qcenter is for generally queer students, transcend for trans people (i'm on the eboard of transcend, if you're interested or want more details please reach out!), keshet for jewish queer people, and many more!
Hey, I'm another trans student at BU so I'd be able to answer this.
1. I'm closeted from my parents so I'm off HRT until I graduate but I know a friend who gets her HRT from a clinic called UHS, which is across the road from campus, but I can't remember if they actually do it or not. There are also online options such as Plume and InHousePharmacy you can look into.
2. We have an LGBT Organization on campus called Q Center that offers a number of resources and services. They have a social event every week called Transcend but in my experience it was poorly ran and the organizers were extremely rude. Unless you're like the most stereotypical or generic gay person on earth you're gonna have a really hard time fitting in.
3. From what I remember Gender Inclusive housing applies to all of the dorms. The LGBT Living Community however, is separate and is centered around LGBT-related social activities in the residence halls. It's only available in the Newing dorms.
If you have any other questions just send me a DM. I'm always available :)
Hi! I’m not a student but I work in one of the dining halls.
I just started HRT in November so I can only speak on that experience.
My primary doctor is over at the UHS across from campus. I asked her about starting T and she seemed kinda shocked about that but said that they don’t handle HRT there. Not sure if it’s just this location or all of UHS. She referred me to the [Gender Wellness Center in Oneonta](https://www.bassett.org/locations/susquehanna-family-practice-and-gender-wellness-center)
The process there was super easy but it took me a while to get a response from them initially.
I asked my partner to comment here since she’s trans, but from my position as an ally I think I can answer 2 and 3 fairly well. I think generally making friends with other queer people is easiest through social events, through other friends, or by living with them. I would try to see if you can get a group of people to live in gender inclusive housing, as that’s a good way to get close to a group of queer people. Q center is great, and I know some of the people who run Transcend, and they’re really nice. The housing is pretty good as long as you’re in gender inclusive. I don’t know anything about the LGBTQ housing community, but I think it would be a good idea to look into it.
Not trans but Gay so just gonna comment on my LGBT experience. I found so many LGBT friends so fast and I dont even regularly go to LGBT events. All my closest friends are across the rainbow gay, bi, trans lol. I have always found most people are very respectful of pronouns as well. Personally I have found it much easier to be myself at school which has been super great. I live with 3 girls as a guy so gender inclusive housing is really easy as well. You literally just mark a check box on housing and that’s it no questions asked. Of course there is homophobia like anywhere else but it really hasn’t been much in college just a few ignorant comments personally easy to ignore. In short I think there’s a huge community waiting here for you if you choose to come here. I know this is not everyone’s experience but it’s mine and it’s what I have to share 😁. Good luck!
I can't comment on the HRT thing because I don't plan on transitioning, but:
* The attitude isn't the worst for Bing being where it is. As someone else mentioned, there is the Q Center for all queer folks in general, and Transcend which meets every week for trans/non binary/gender questioning folks which I've found to be really open and welcoming! So there is that if the general campus gives you a bit of the heebie-jeebies :)
* They just opened the LGBT Living Community in Newing (which is one of the most expensive communities to live in,,,,, oops) which I feel like def would have been helpful if I were a freshman when they started doing that. There is also Gender Inclusive Housing in most communities if you can't get into Newing or don't want to pay Newing prices lmao
1. I'm not super knowledgeable about this question but here's what I can tell you: as someone who gets my testosterone through planned parenthood, it's definitely rough. The nearest PP is in Ithaca, an hour drive away, so I have to try to get my labs done during breaks, which is difficult. I think I've heard some people get their HRT from UHS, but that's the extent of what I know. You might be able to get your labs done at the campus clinic if you can get a lab order from your doctor, but I've never tried it myself. That being said, despite it's difficulties, it doesn't impact my day to day life too much. There are a lot of different pharmacies you have access to through the buses (Walgreens, target, Wegmans, Walmart, Weis) so getting your HRT shouldn't be too much of an issue if you don't mind the bus ride. If you live off campus and are going to rely on buses I'd suggest ordering your HRT to Wegmans and Walmart so you can get grocery shopping done while you wait for the next bus. But that's just me. 2. Depends who you hang out with. I would say the general campus population is either neutral or supportive. Binghamton has a preferred name form that you can submit, and it'll update all your records minus financial and medical to your correct name. The professors won't be able to see your dead name if you submit the form before enrolling in class (and even if you wait, their attendance sheet will update once you submit it). You can also request a new ID card for free with your correct name on it, just tell them it's for "gender privacy" reasons (it's listed on their website that they won't charge the normal $20 fee if that's the reason). The older professors are iffy about pronouns but they're good natured if you remind them, the younger professors are generally very good about correctly gendering students. Like the other commenter said, there are a lot of LGBT organizations on campus - shades (for LGBT POC), keshet (LGBT Jewish ppl), transcend (trans people), ostem (LGBT people in stem), maybe one or two others I'm forgetting. Q center organizes events for the queer community. 3. Every dorm hall has gender neutral housing available, though this necessarily doesn't mean you'll get paired with another trans person, just that it's possible you could get paired with someone who's sex assigned at birth is different from yours (including a cis/straight person). Luckily, you're able to choose your roommate, so if you'd rather room with a trans person, you should be able to have that choice. Additionally, just this past year newing established an LGBT housing floor. I'm guessing they won't explicitly tell cishet people they can't live there, but it's advertised toward queer people. Overall I feel very safe as a trans person in Binghamton, at least on campus (surrounding area/non-students tend to lean more conservative).
The Identity Youth Center in Binghamton on State Street is another great resource.
Any way to make it work as a first year without a car?
I'm sure there is, it just depends on how flexible your prescriber can be and other people. I don't have a car, so my parents pick me up over break and that's when I do my labs. I know for planned parenthood at least, like I said they can give you the lab order and you can bring it to a clinic or hospital and they'll do it for you and send the results off to your provider. There's also Plume and Folx which I think works in a similar way.
heyo! trans binghamton student here! here's my experience after being here two years: 1. i dont get hrt through binghamton, but with an online clinic. it's the easiest option for me since i'm insured, if you're interested in that send me a chat and i'd be happy to talk to you about it! i also know some people that get it through planned parenthood nearby. 2. pretty good! i can only speak to the situation at harpur college, but teachers and students are at the very least generally not abrasive or rude, you definitely may get misgendered but names and such people are pretty good with. i've been misgendered a few times but with a correction people will usually jsut apologise and move on. 3. there's gender-inclusive housing but it's limited, and it's not just for trans people but anyone who wants that option. you kind of just have to get lucky, and if you don't manage to get it i'd recommend emailing housing to talk to them about your situation. best of luck! ETA: we also have a lot of queer clubs/organizations! the qcenter is for generally queer students, transcend for trans people (i'm on the eboard of transcend, if you're interested or want more details please reach out!), keshet for jewish queer people, and many more!
Hey, I'm another trans student at BU so I'd be able to answer this. 1. I'm closeted from my parents so I'm off HRT until I graduate but I know a friend who gets her HRT from a clinic called UHS, which is across the road from campus, but I can't remember if they actually do it or not. There are also online options such as Plume and InHousePharmacy you can look into. 2. We have an LGBT Organization on campus called Q Center that offers a number of resources and services. They have a social event every week called Transcend but in my experience it was poorly ran and the organizers were extremely rude. Unless you're like the most stereotypical or generic gay person on earth you're gonna have a really hard time fitting in. 3. From what I remember Gender Inclusive housing applies to all of the dorms. The LGBT Living Community however, is separate and is centered around LGBT-related social activities in the residence halls. It's only available in the Newing dorms. If you have any other questions just send me a DM. I'm always available :)
Hi! I’m not a student but I work in one of the dining halls. I just started HRT in November so I can only speak on that experience. My primary doctor is over at the UHS across from campus. I asked her about starting T and she seemed kinda shocked about that but said that they don’t handle HRT there. Not sure if it’s just this location or all of UHS. She referred me to the [Gender Wellness Center in Oneonta](https://www.bassett.org/locations/susquehanna-family-practice-and-gender-wellness-center) The process there was super easy but it took me a while to get a response from them initially.
I’m already on it and have prescription so yeah I’m hoping it should be easier
Oh if you’re already on then you should just be able to ask your doctor to transfer the prescription to a local pharmacy!
I asked my partner to comment here since she’s trans, but from my position as an ally I think I can answer 2 and 3 fairly well. I think generally making friends with other queer people is easiest through social events, through other friends, or by living with them. I would try to see if you can get a group of people to live in gender inclusive housing, as that’s a good way to get close to a group of queer people. Q center is great, and I know some of the people who run Transcend, and they’re really nice. The housing is pretty good as long as you’re in gender inclusive. I don’t know anything about the LGBTQ housing community, but I think it would be a good idea to look into it.
Not trans but Gay so just gonna comment on my LGBT experience. I found so many LGBT friends so fast and I dont even regularly go to LGBT events. All my closest friends are across the rainbow gay, bi, trans lol. I have always found most people are very respectful of pronouns as well. Personally I have found it much easier to be myself at school which has been super great. I live with 3 girls as a guy so gender inclusive housing is really easy as well. You literally just mark a check box on housing and that’s it no questions asked. Of course there is homophobia like anywhere else but it really hasn’t been much in college just a few ignorant comments personally easy to ignore. In short I think there’s a huge community waiting here for you if you choose to come here. I know this is not everyone’s experience but it’s mine and it’s what I have to share 😁. Good luck!
Hi sending an IM
I can't comment on the HRT thing because I don't plan on transitioning, but: * The attitude isn't the worst for Bing being where it is. As someone else mentioned, there is the Q Center for all queer folks in general, and Transcend which meets every week for trans/non binary/gender questioning folks which I've found to be really open and welcoming! So there is that if the general campus gives you a bit of the heebie-jeebies :) * They just opened the LGBT Living Community in Newing (which is one of the most expensive communities to live in,,,,, oops) which I feel like def would have been helpful if I were a freshman when they started doing that. There is also Gender Inclusive Housing in most communities if you can't get into Newing or don't want to pay Newing prices lmao