In Fall 2024, the Ithaca College Center for LGBT Education, Outreach, and Services opened a new program to help students: the Binders and More program, also called BAM! Using internal funding and donations, the BAM! program offers a special-ordering system where students can order one gender-affirming undergarment per academic year for free.
BAM! offers different types of gender-affirming undergarments, including chest binders, chest flattening tape and tucking/gaff underwear. The chest binders are offered in sizes XS-5XL and in many different shades: white, black, gray and eight different skin tones. In order to access the program, students fill out an interest form to set up a meeting for questions and to sample undergarments to start the special order process. This form can be found on the LGBT Center website or Instagram, as well as QR codes posted in the Gender Affirming Closet.
Lee Tyson, LGBT Center pride fellow, said BAM! also aims to provide students with correct and important information on how to safely wear the clothing, and make the LGBT Center a place where anyone can visit to discuss safe use.
“Now that these types of garments are more widely accessible, there is more information going around,” Tyson said. “So we’re really excited to, with each order, provide safety information handouts and be able to share what we know with students.”
Crissi Dalfonzo, the director of the LGBT Center, said this program is more specialized than the Gender Affirming Closet.
“[The BAM! Program] is more of a special way to get brand new items,” Dalfonzo said. “Students can get exactly the one they need, and they don’t need to depend on somebody else having donated a binder, or, you know, for us to magically have the size or the color that they need in stock.”
The LGBT Center officially opened its doors in November 2001 with the mission of creating a positive environment for all students on campus, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community. The LGBT Center organizes events focusing on community outreach and education. One of its services is the Gender Affirming Closet: a place for students to receive gender–affirming clothing at no cost. The closet first opened in 2023, after there were leftover donations from clothing swaps the LGBT Center held in Fall 2022. The closet is filled with masculine, feminine and gender-neutral clothing to help students feel more comfortable in their own skin. Dalfonzo said that since its opening in winter 2023, the closet has been so successful that the amount of donations accepted is sometimes limited.
Tyson said the BAM! program was launched to help students who cannot safely or financially obtain gender-affirming undergarments do so.
“This need really came out of students who were coming to the closet and wondering if we had any binders in stock,” Tyson said. “Gender-affirming undergarments tend to be expensive and available in limited places, so not everybody has that kind of access.”
Junior Pierre Field is the president of Prism, a social gathering club for LGBTQ+ students. Field said the program allows for experimentation without it being a financial burden.
“I think it’s just a really good resource that we are able to have,” Field said. “An open environment where you don’t have to feel like you must purchase this. You can try it out and get a feel for it.”
The BAM! program differs from the Gender Affirming Closet because the Gender Affirming Closet is donation-based, while BAM! is order-based. The closet consists of different articles of clothing whereas BAM! services are specially ordered after students try on sample garments. The orders are delivered directly to the students. While the LGBT Center does take donations of gender-affirming undergarments, the new program is looking to give students more consistent access to particular pieces of clothing.
Dalfonzo said the program is still in the pilot stages and is focusing on getting specific funding based on need. Dalfonzo said the current funding for this program comes internally along with some outside funding through donations.
“It’s so wonderful that we’re able to do that work,” Dalfonzo said. “We’re really really excited to be able to use that funding for direct service and support to queer and trans students.”
Dalfonzo said that even in its early stages, the program has already been successful with receiving student engagement after the center presented information about the service during orientation.
“We have a lot of first-year students who were like ‘When’s the forum going live?” Dalfonzo said. “And the excitement on people’s faces when they’re like, ‘I could get this thing that is going to be really affirming to me.’”
The LGBT Center’s support for transgender students has proven to have a positive impact on recipients. According to a national survey by the Trevor Project, transgender and nonbinary individuals who had access to gender–affirming undergarments reported lower rates of attempting suicide than those who did not.
Junior Payton Romance said the program can be students’ first queer experience.
“For many queer and trans folks, it can be a huge joy in receiving your first binder,” Romance said. “I’m really grateful the LGBT Center can be part of the process in soliciting trans joy here.”
Both Dalfonzo and Tyson said BAM! is also for students who are not sure about their need for a gender-affirming undergarment. Tyson said the center welcomes any student who is interested in what this program could do for them.
“If there are any students who are curious about what these garments even are, or if they are right for them, come in and have a chat,” Tyson said. “We’re happy to share as much information as we can.”
