Pissed Off At My School!

[Vickie_CDTV]

If they receive public funds, they may be required by law to block access to porn sites (as some public libraries are)... and as such they just set their filter to "high" (figuratively speaking) and just have it over-zealously block anything that sounds like it might be sexually oriented (probably blocks access to some sites with breast cancer research, for example.) Among other things, they probably use a blacklist/whitelist provided by a third party that blocks anything referencing crossdressing (and the folks who make those lists, most if not all being your typical John Q. Cisgender, just assume anything related to crossdressing is porn.)

One can jump to conclusions about some sort of discrimination, but seriously, it is almost certainly just an overaggressive filter they are using, and they probably have no idea that non-porn TV/TS sites are blocked (if they even know such things exist to begin with.)

One can always try using a proxy, it might work. After all, it is what teenagers do to access naughty sites when they are on a connection with a filter.

[PatMatoole]

send a typed letter to the dean and complain about discrimination. Use another students name and address.

wtf?????

[Caden Lane]

I agree Pat, that was rather questionable ethicly, and does nothing for the TGmovement. It may be more appropo to address the letter anonymously indicating that you are transgendered and do not wish to be outed, but give them an email not linked to your male self for any correspondence, and explain that to them as well.

[Ellie52]

There is no need to go to the embarrassment of writing letters. Just use the internet via an encrypted circuit. Once installed you can surf to your hearts content with total secrecy. I encourage anyone (even if you dont understand computers) to download and install TOR Browser.

[5150 Girl]

I would do is go straight to the IT dpt. and ask, "What is it about this site that is deemed unacceptable?" Decide from there weather on not it is a discrimination thing.
I should also add that I have found the world of academia to be accepting of alternative life styles. I am full time on campus

[Kelly DeWinter]

Valarie;

Stand up for your rights, Our local library also blocked this site. I requested a meeting with the regional office for our library system. Explained to them the issue and why I felt it was important to allow access to the site (it was well moderated, icon of the community, respected posters (tam, and other moderators my find their hat sizes a bit bigger reading this LOL) etc etc. I even showed some of the more well thought out and discussed threads. They agreed it was a positive community web site and granted access as an exception on their server level.

All it takes is presenting a clear argument for why access should be granted. It just takes someone willing to present that argument.

[Michelle.M]

Send a typed letter to the dean and complain about discrimination. Use another students name and address.

Oh, yeah, that's brilliant advice! Put someone else's reputation on the line because you don't have the stones to stand up for yourself. :/

Valarie, check with the LGBT student center and see if they know what the university's policy is on site blocking. I'm also in the UT system and I know that the university's DIVERSITY policy is very progressive, but that may have nothing to do with their INTERNET USAGE policy. The two don't always support each other.

And the LGBT center may want to get involved in this issue and help the school refine the blocking policy (if that is the real issue) so this could be a big win for everyone, with you as the driving force behind it.

They may have a variety of other reasons for site blocking that have nothing to do with access to LGBT information. Could be they're trying to keep bandwidth use to a manageable level by filtering a wide variety of entertainment sites (and this may be seen as entertainment or, depending on meta data, even as porn), and perhaps there's something in this site's meta data that didn't get seen by the system until you logged on and their servers saw it. In that case it's probably an automatic function of keyword site blocking and not a specific action, although this site could probably be set by IT to override the filters for users to have access.

I don't necessarily agree with this "don't make waves" advice, but this may not be an issue that deserves getting all worked up about. In other words, I wouldn't just assume that you're being blocked for sinister reasons or that discrimination is a factor. Go find out the details - get the facts, and then proceed armed with knowledge.

It's Texas....are you still surprised?

* sigh * Please. Can't you say something constructive instead of just offering up a different flavor of prejudice?