Photo Illustration by Jade Johnson | The Signal
Two Georgia State students are speaking out and taking action on the Atlanta campus’ lacks of gender-inclusive facilities and policies.With a population of over 30,000 students, very few of the buildings on the Atlanta campus have a selection of gender-neutral bathrooms they can choose from.
Leonardo Rodriguez, Student Government Association (SGA) head Senator at the Andrew Young School of Policy, has begun to write new legislation to expand the number of gender-inclusive restrooms on campus.
“It’s [the bill] to expand those numbers [gender-inclusive restrooms] so that LGBTQ students, trans students, or non-conforming students can feel more comfortable and have easier access to restrooms that fit their needs,” said Rodriguez.
Legislation under way
Before presenting the bill to SGA, Rodriguez said he wants to meet with a crowd of LGBTQIA students, and discuss the challenges they face on campus.
“I am meeting with these students and getting their input because they already face marginalization on a daily basis because of their identity, so that’s one of the steps that I want to take,” he said.
Georgia State student, Alexandra Chase, said the few bathrooms that Georgia State does have are hidden or require extra steps to gain access.
“There aren’t enough gender-neutral bathrooms and the ones that are, are not publicized at all. They’re behind locked doors and you have to ask for the keys most of the time. The only one that I know that’s around this area [Library Plaza] is in the basement of Kell Hall,” she said.
Being forced to use gender-specific bathrooms opens the individual to hateful comments, looks, and the possibility of violence, according to Chase.
“Trans folks experience increased harassment in gendered bathrooms, especially those who don’t fit into what society says a woman or a man looks like, so it’s either I’m going to go to the male bathroom and get harassed or I’m going to the female bathroom and get harassed,” she said. “There’s no really clear way.”
If the bill is approved by SGA, Rodriguez plans on sending it to university president Mark Becker who will have the final say on whether or not it may be implemented around campus. In the occasion where he doesn’t approve the bill, Rodriguez said he plans on finding a way to keep pushing it until it is.
After student complaints, Georgia State began a university-wide audit on gender-inclusive restrooms to figure out if the trans restroom locations are feasible and fair. Rodriguez said that he has been working with the Dean of Students Darryl Holloman in gathering data for the bill.
“We were getting some feedback that some of them [gender-inclusive restrooms] were inoperable, some of them were in remote areas,” Holloman said. “So we did an audit to see where they were on campus. And to ensure that we were being compliant with the latest letter from Leonardo on transgender concerns.”
Annette Butler, Director of AA/EEO training and compliance, is conducting the audit and is in charge of verifying regulations in regards to restrooms and checking with the federal government to ensure that the university is working within their limits on helping Rodriguez achieve the goal of his bill, according to Holloman.
“These restrooms really help to provide choice for students because you don’t want to say the trans restrooms are just for trans students, right? They are an opportunity that if people feel uncomfortable or unsafe that they have safe spaces that they can utilize,” Holloman said.
Rodriguez feels this is prejudice against LGBTQIA students at Georgia State and says, “the restroom is not a safe haven; it doesn’t protect you from all the evils of the world. So it’s just a lot of misunderstanding. A trans woman is still a woman and a fair solution to all of this would be gender-inclusive restrooms where it’s fair for both sides.”
But there are some legal barriers to the proposed bill. Title IX, is a constitutional amendment that protects people from discrimination based on their sex in education programs or activities that are federally funded. However, in the state of Georgia, people are required to use restrooms of their designated sex that matches their birth certificate, rather than their gender identity – a policy which, as reported by The Signal in August, is under attack by those who say it violates Title IX.
Campus-wide Concerns
Despite legislation against discrimination, Chase said the university lacks some fundamental policies to protect the rights of transgender individuals.
In multiple cases, Chase said she has had to correct her professor on the name she wished to be called. Georgia State has not implemented a Prefered Name or Pronoun policy, so correcting the professor causes an uncomfortable situation where the individual is forced to be “outed” in front of their peers.
“It can put people in the position where they have to be outed and tell people their old names and that might not be comfortable for them.” she said. “I know people who had to go to higher-ups from their professors and ask they ‘hey, can you please make them respect my name and pronouns.’”
Chase is currently advocating for the implementation of a preferred name policy, as she contacts the head of departments to have them included in syllabuses.
Although Chase has not experienced any instances where the professor has not willingly agreed to class her by her preferred name, she does have friends who have and feels that it is not fair for transgender students to be at the mercy of their professors.
Chase legally changed her name in hopes of eliminating that problem, but was faced with another issue. Georgia State does not have a Change of Name policy, so though her legal name was changed to Alexandra Chase all of her Georgia State accounts still had her previous name. With no university wide Change of Name policy, Chase must go through the tedious process of changing the name in each system and correcting her professors.
“There’s not way to list this [your changed name] anywhere, so professors just don’t know. You basically have to get in contact with you professors either on the first day of school, or by email and hope that they’re willing to change it.”
But outside the classroom, things don’t get any easier. Georgia State does not provide an option to transition from male to female housing or vice-versa, instead offering Gender-Inclusive Housing (GIH).
The university description reads, “GIH is a housing option in which two or more students share a multiple occupancy apartment or suite regardless of students’ sex, gender identity or gender expression. In other words, this option allows for same gender or other gender identities to live together regardless of biological sex.”
Chase she feels the option forces the individual to identify with their assigned sex.
“To group us with our assigned sex is to reify that we are that sex (that transfeminine folks are actually men, and that transmasculine folks are actually women). It is to say that our lives are artifice, unreal, and inauthentic — that when we come home, stripping off our makeup and chest binders, that we are inescapably our assigned sex behind the ‘show’ of our gender expression,” Chase said in an article she wrote regarding the issue on Medium.com.
Chase said she is disappointed by Georgia State’s neglect of the trans community within their walls.
“As Georgia’s largest university in the Southeast’s largest city, Georgia State has a moral imperative to address these concerns, and to ensure the protection of trans folks on our campus,” she said. “Georgia State is failing our community.”
