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bility to identify where you will be traveling and to take ers or medical professionals about the correct way to
the initiative to find out what laws are currently on the refer to your singer. You may need to step in as their
books. While as directors, we never anticipate there to advocate until their emergency contact arrives or can
be legal issues on trips for our singers, particularly for be reached.
such benign matters as medications or rest stops, it is There are also multiple states that have passed legis-
always best to be prepared. lation that allow religiously affiliated hospitals or doc-
7
tors to deny care based on religious beliefs. It may seem
hypothetical or hyperbolic, but being denied medical
Have a plan for bathroom and dressing rooms for every planned treatment because of gender identity is a very real pos-
stop—and do your best to prepare for the unplanned ones as well. sibility for TGE people. While this situation is one that
will most likely be dealt with by the singer’s emergency
Pre-planning bathroom and dressing room logistics contact, there is a chance you may encounter this, es-
is especially important when traveling in states that pecially if the contact is temporarily unreachable. Try
have, or will soon have, active laws that prohibit TGE to consider how you would handle this event if it were
people from using the bathroom that match their gen- to occur.
der identity instead of their ASAB. For any stop in your
itinerary, you should make sure that your TGE singers
will have a place to take care of bathroom or clothes- Examining the Pros and Cons
changing needs. This may entail specifically choosing of TGE Rooming Options
venues, restaurants, or gas stations that have gender- There are multiple options available when it comes
neutral, single-stall, or family bathrooms. Or perhaps it to the rooming assignments for TGE singers. Each of
means having somebody ensure that a gendered public the following options have their own pros and potential
bathroom or changing space is empty before the TGE cons attached to them, many of which are dependent
singer goes in—though this is a notably unsubtle and on your specific context. The following list of rooming
potentially embarrassing option. Sometimes, no action options is not exhaustive, but I believe it accounts for
is needed at all, as sometimes TGE people can exist the majority of contexts and offers a realistic and prag-
without others in public realizing their identity. As the matic lens to rooming for our TGE singers. It is imper-
first guiding principle states, try to make sure you pri- ative that you weigh these options with your singer to
vately create a plan with your TGE singer ahead of determine the best solution. Typically, I work with the
time for various stops. This will allow the TGE singer TGE singer to determine their rooming placement/
to navigate these stops with discretion and dignity. assignment first before I open rooming selections for
other students. This allows them to be with friends or
peers they will feel safe with and minimizes the risk of
Be aware of any pertinent emergency information as needed. being in a private room where they could be harmed
emotionally or physically.
No director wants to have an emergency situation I should also preemptively note here that many par-
occur while on a trip. Life doesn’t always adhere to this ents, guardians, or administrators still view rooming
plan, and sometimes emergencies happen. For TGE through an antiquated heteronormative lens, in which
people, emergencies, particularly the medical ones, can “impropriety” typically only occurs when sexes are
be fraught with potential challenges. Often, the name mixed in a room. This means that some believe, regard-
or pronouns that a TGE person uses do not match the less of a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity,
name or gender listed on their legal documentation if somebody was Assigned Male at Birth (AMAB) and
or health insurance. Make sure to prepare yourself by they are in a room where the others were Assigned Fe-
knowing what name/gender is listed on these docu- male at Birth (AFAB), there is inherently something
ments and be ready to discretely educate first respond- wrong or improper about this because “men” or “boys”

CHORAL JOURNAL November/December 2024 Volume 65 Number 4 57