Statement against Transmisia

As members of the Computer Science Student Council (iFSR) at TU Dresden, we firmly believe that transmisia (hatred of transgender people) has no place at our university and in the academic environment. It is not only our duty but also our moral responsibility to promote an inclusive and respectful community where all students and staff, regardless of their gender identity or other marginalizing factors, are safe and accepted.

We observe with great concern the increasing presence of transmisia in our society. This trend is alarming and is already having a concrete and painful impact on our university community. Reports of several incidents during our freshman orientation week (ESE) 2023 testify to a frightening reality: Some of our students, including a long-time committed person from the environment of our student council, felt forced to stay away from the event for fear of discrimination and violence instead of volunteering as planned or giving an urgently needed introduction to studying computer science at TUD. We condemn these acts of transmisia, discrimination and violence in the strongest possible terms. Such acts have no place in our society and especially not in an educational institution whose aim is to promote knowledge, understanding and respect.

We have been working for several years to include a code of conduct in our student council regulations and, as a first step towards less transmisia, to set up an all-gender toilet in the Andreas-Pfitzmann-Bau to enable the guaranteed non-discriminatory use of a toilet for all people, including parents with small children and non-binary people, for example. On this last point, we are working hand in hand with the faculty management, for which we are very grateful. We hope to be able to announce and present progress as soon as possible.

We would like to address the following words to all trans people in our faculty: We stand by your side. We offer you support and advice for any problems, be it related to transmisia and discrimination or other study-related challenges. Our office and our events are open to you - you are always welcome. We have also nominated confidants who will be happy to help you. You can reach them at any time at vertrauen@ifsr.de

In order to emphasize our stance and draw attention to the serious problem of transmisia, we are changing our profile picture on social networks with immediate effect. The trans flag is intended to remind people of our stance and express solidarity every time they interact with our posts.

We call on the entire university community to join us in this fight against transmisia. It is long past time that we all stand together and create an environment where everyone can feel safe to learn and work without fear of discrimination. If you have any ideas, wishes or suggestions on how this better can become a reality, we look forward to hearing from you.