On days that he feels confident that he effectively passes as a male, he uses the men’s bathroom. On other days, when he feels that people will perceive him as a “very butch woman”, he uses the women’s. It is an issue that could be easily solved with the presence of a unisex bathroom. But for Charlie, whose job at the University has him visiting different campus buildings every day, locating a unisex bathroom is usually not an option.

For all its relative openness, the University’s campus reflects the view that gender is a black-and-white binary. Everything from on-campus housing to student questionnaires unconsciously balk at any shade of grey, which makes life as a transgender student difficult.

“Gender is like the air we breathe,” said Gabriel Javier, senior assistant director at the Spectrum Center. “We do not notice it in our everyday lives until someone points it out.” But in the everyday lives of students, it is constantly being pointed out in the way we choose to dress, the bathrooms we use, the dorm hall we live in and the way our peers treat us.

The University continues to try and meet the needs of transgender students and those who are in the process of transitioning. There is a special policy on gender-neutral housing which tries to work with students on a case-by-case basis to provide adequate housing, whether that is a single or double room with a private bathroom attached or a unisex bathroom nearby. But students may be denied these options due to a lack of availability, which means they will simply be assigned to a room based on birth gender. In Mak’s own experience, he was not allowed to request gender-neutral housing because he had not undergone any surgical procedures. Instead, he was lucky enough to avoid an uncomfortable living situation by rooming with a female high school friend. For many students, though, this may not be the case.

Another challenge a transgender student may face is in the classroom when a GSI takes attendance or at a sporting event when students show their MCards. Since androgynous names are less common than gender-specific ones, transgender students’ birth names don’t always fit the gender identities they assume in adulthood. But the University provides assistance in fixing this gender predicament. A policy enacted in April 2008 allows students to choose the name that will be listed on class rosters and printed on their MCards.

Charlie, who has changed his name from a more feminine one, never registered his preferred name with the University, opting instead to simply tell professors and GSIs to use the name Charlie in place of his birth name. Charlie hasn’t decided whether he will ever change his name legally — a long, paperwork-intensive process that can cost several hundred dollars in fees. The decision to take Charlie as his everyday name was gradual. It began as a stage name, but felt too right to discard once the show ended.

“Initially, it was part of my drag name,” Charlie said. “Drag helped me express myself better physically and gave me a better understanding of my body.”

Charlie began dressing in drag as a part of a performance group called Drag King Rebellion, which originated at Michigan State. The group tours the Midwest, lipsynching pop hits and performing choreography in a way that Charlie says integrates “all kinds of identities and experiences into a medley that turns out original, quality and socio-politically conscious performances of gender.” In the role of Chapless Charlie, dancing on stage with his friends in the troupe, Charlie is able to express his true sense of self.

If a transgender student is ready to take the surgical plunge and undergo a sex-change operation, the University Health System offers some of the most complete services in the nation with its Comprehensive Gender Services Program. Through this program, transgender students can find general physicians and psychologists who cater specifically to their gender-related needs. Patients have access to services that include medical and mental health care, speech/voice therapy, and hormonal and surgical treatment. But often, patients must also pay for these treatments out of pocket, since many of the procedures are not covered by insurance.

When Mak decided that he was ready to change his sex from female to male, he used Comprehensive Gender Services. He started out with hormone treatments, rubbing a testosterone-laden gel on his upper arm once a day that is released throughout the day to simulate natural production of the hormone. Already, after only four months, Mak said he has a voice that is an octave and a half lower, is able to grow some facial hair, has seen an increase in his muscle mass, is constantly horny and easily angered — all qualities generally associated with increased testosterone.