WASHINGTON – The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) has launched the Transgender On-campus Nondiscrimination Information (TONI) Project, the nation’s first online hub for transgender students to share trans-affirmative college policies and practices, and exchange ideas for organizing and action.

Key features of the site include a searchable database of campus profiles that document a range of campus policies such as housing, records and documentation, healthcare, safety, and curricula.

TONI is accessible to current and prospective students in search of trans-affirmative colleges and universities, and users also have access to a community forum where they can share ideas for taking action.

“With the start of another academic year, the TONI Project is urgently needed,” said Mara Keisling, NCTE Executive Director, in a statement.

“Colleges and universities have always been at the forefront of the progress we’ve made in trans inclusion. But there are still too many trans college students who have trouble getting to, paying for, and graduating from college.” Keisling added. “That’s why NCTE and our allies came together to develop this site and hope it’ll go a long way to make the challenges of college life just a little bit easier to overcome.” “Study after study from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey to the Campus Climate Index tells us that trans and gender non-conforming college students face real problems on campus. Fifteen percent leave school because they faced severe harassment. We can’t continue to allow trans students to make choices as important as this without having all the information in front of them. And we have to hold colleges accountable for how they treat young people in our community.”

According to the NCTE, the TONI project serves as a tool to counteract those challenges by empowering transgender students to advocate for their rights and complete their education.

As a platform for transgender students to connect and share valuable information, the TONI Project will spread valuable knowledge and encourage activism on campuses across the nation, the NCTE said in a prepared statement.

The site is available at www.transstudents.org.