FYI: The National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force have put together a guide for homeless shelter operators on dealing with transgender clients. Most shelters are gender-segregated. Often they force people who live as women but are legally male to stay with other men—and vice versa for female-to-male trans folks. This puts those individuals at risk for sexual harassment and assault. Advocates also report shelter operators often force transgender clients to dress in clothes that match their legal gender. The guide explains that transgender people who come to shelters have often already been turned away from family and jobs because of similar intolerance of their gender expression. It aims to help shelters that want to be more accommodating understand ways it can do so without disrupting their facilities. [1/9/04]