It’s Nice To See Them Do The Right Thing

You know I always get a kick when I see a news article boasting how a business makes a big deal about being trans positive when in reality they have to do it because it is the law.

Connecticut colleges work to accommodate transgender, non-binary students in safe learning environmentCollege and universities work to accommodate transgender, non-binary studentsThe New Haven Register
By Brian Zahn
August 20, 2017

In the 16 years that Campus Pride, a national nonprofit that advocates for college campuses to be safer for and more inclusive of LGBT students, has been operational, co-founder Shane Windmeyer said more than pride has improved on the nation’s campuses.

Colleges are also starting to recognize and address issues sensitive to students who identify as either transgender or outside of the gender binary, Windmeyer said.

“The language and general awareness has increased in the last decade,” Windmeyer said. “We’re seeing more transgender men and women in the media and spotlight, it is has an impact on young people today and their identities.”

Windmeyer said that in Connecticut, “as well as in other progressive states,” the discussions have moved beyond wrestling with the existence and humanity of transgender folks, on to conversations such as how to address people by their correct gender pronouns.

Well yeah… it is Connecticut law that they do that.

At New Haven’s Southern Connecticut State University, one of its most recent changes in the field of transgender issues is its “gender inclusive housing.” The on-campus housing, which gives students who don’t identify as the gender they were assigned at birth the ability to live in an arrangement with which they are more comfortable, actually dates back to 2012, but not under its current name.
[…]
The University of Connecticut offers a comprehensive gender transition guidelines, offering transitioning students the opportunity to “utilize a transition team.” This includes “Determining when the individual will begin using the sex-segregated facilities that match his/her gender identity; and facilitating the creation of gender neutral facilities where practicable;”
[…]
Yale University provides resources for transgender, gender nonconforming, genderqueer and gender-questioning students, faculty and staff, including programming resources, preferred name use, gender-inclusive housing and readily accessible online information, such as an “all gender restroom map”.

It is one thing to offer “gender inclusive housing” or an “all gender restroom map” but it can also be a problem if they require us to use them.

When I was a grad student at UConn a group of students came to me all proud with a petition for me to sign, but I didn’t sign it. The petition stated for the university to create gender neutral bathrooms for trans people to use and I wouldn’t sign it because it could be read as requiring us to use only gender neutral bathrooms. I told them to go back and rewrite it and change to just creating gender neutral bathrooms for anyone to use.

It is nice that colleges and universities are creating gender inclusive housing and bathrooms but they can’t ghettoize us, we should be given a choice. There might be some trans and gender neutral students who would like gender inclusive housing but others might not.

P.S. If you want to read the school guideline or the Connecticut Law (PA11-55) I have the links on the right hand side of my blog.

---

This afternoon I am out to lunch with some friends, it is the first time that we went to the restaurant in Coventry. It looks like a nice restaurant that is right on Coventry Lake.