The Gender and Sexual Diversity Office at Thompson Rivers University has introduced a continuous gender-expression clothing initiative designed to meet the needs of students seeking gender-affirming items. The idea began when the office first researched how other post-secondary institutions support gender-diverse communities.
“When I started this position a couple of years ago, Sarah Wolf and l made some site visits to two universities in the Lower Mainland,” Noah Fischer said. “We went to SFU, and we went to UBC and really the purpose of that was to explore what gender and sexual diversity supports looked like at other places already, because this was a very new position for TRU.”
During that visit, Fischer noticed a simple but powerful idea. “One of the things that I noticed was that they had a rack of clothing and gender-affirming items… such as undergarments, binders, etcetera, outside of their dedicated pride space.”
Fischer initially assumed TRU might one day have a similar space, but waiting didn’t feel right anymore. “I kind of just grew tired of waiting and it felt like a simple enough thing to do that would make a really big difference for people,” Fischer said. “People are really in a difficult place right now and they don’t necessarily always have the ability to access clothing that affirms their identity.”
Unlike one-day clothing swaps, this model is open every day, anonymous, and intentionally unstructured. “The clothing is always outside of my office and I do not pay attention to who is accessing what,” Fischer said. “None of the clothing is separated or organized according to gender or size or anything of the sort.”
Anyone can donate items by dropping them in the box outside his door, and anyone can take what they need. “If they want to grab something and they need something, then that’s kind of just the trust that I’m putting in the system,” Fischer said.
The impact speaks for itself. “I don’t necessarily see people taking them, but when I come in after the weekend, I have to completely restock stuff,” Fischer said. While he once wondered how to ensure items went to those needing gender-affirming clothing, he decided against policing access. “If people need to access the clothing, they need to access the clothing, and it’s really not in my nature to police that.”
A partnership with the Kamloops United Church Thrive store strengthens the initiative through $12 vouchers. “They already were hosting private queer shopping nights once a month,” Fischer said. “If people… don’t find something that they like or… that fits properly… then they’re able to ask for one of these vouchers.”
Future expansion is likely, though space is a limitation. “Really, the only thing standing in my way is space,” Fischer said. Donations already include makeup, bedding, personal hygiene products, shoes, and unused undergarments. “Basically, if people are willing to donate it, I’m accepting it.”
For him, the initiative carries urgent social meaning. “I think that we’re living in such a challenging time right now,” Fischer said. “At the end of the day, I’m still a cis white male, right? And so doing this work just involves such a commitment to making sure that all dimensions of the community feel supported.”
He connected the project directly to rising hostility toward gender-diverse communities.
“Particularly in the context of trans people being disproportionately targeted, gender diverse people being disproportionately targeted right now,” Fischer emphasized. “I think that this offering sends the message that TRU cares and we want to support all students… This is a real issue that many people are facing, and we’re doing something to respond to that.”