The Fight for Students’ Rights
Last night, I found out that my school denied a petition for housing for a group of students, because one of the student’s sex assigned at birth does not match the others. Despite a petition of support from the whole floor and a letter from the two RAs of the floor endorsing the petition, Washington University in St. Louis denied their petition. For a campus that claims a 5 star ranking on LGBT climate, this is simply unacceptable. Let me just lay out a few reasons why:
1. Policing Sex and Gender binaries is sexist and transphobic. If male/men can only live with male/men and female/women can only live with female/women, then we recreate a system that says men and women are distinctly separate entities and should not be allowed to co-habitate: this is sexist. Anyone living in the middle is only allowed to petition with members of their same sex assigned at birth: this is transphobic.
2. This decision violates students’ agency. If other students can petition to choose their room/suitemates, then why have these students been denied? These students are legally adults and fully understand their choice in suitemates. Why are these students subjected to additional scrutiny?
3. This violates students’ rights to privacy. Students should not have to justify their choice of suitemates, unless all students have to make these same justifications. Forcing students to disclose a trans* identity to allow them to live with members of the opposite sex assigned at birth is both aggressive and invasive.
4. The University is not protecting its students. Many LGBTQ+ students come from schools perpetuating systems of homophobia and transphobia. In a world where hate violence still exists, fear of disclosing one’s sexuality or gender identity to a stranger is entirely valid. If these students had decided to stay on campus, they would have been randomly assigned to people of the same sex assigned at birth. As someone who had to go through this process, I was incredibly afraid of my potential roommate. What if my roommate was homopobic or transphobic? How would I be able to express myself if I were forced to live with such a roommate? Students should not have to live in fear of expressing themselves. If a student’s chosen suitemates make them feel safe, then that choice of safety should be respected.
5. This decision violates Title IX. Students were denied a housing petition based on the sex of one or more members. This is discrimination and harassment based on sex. This is illegal.
Fellow students, we need to make noise about this issue. We cannot sit idly by while the University blatantly discriminates against the student body and polices who we can and cannot live with. We have to stand up for our rights to live safely, to have agency in who we choose to live with, and to have our decision protected by the University, not questioned. Wash U Pride Alliance will be starting a campaign soon to raise awareness about this issue and fight for student rights. I am tired of letting Wash U walk all over me; it is time to stand up and take back our school!
See Wash U Pride Alliance’s Petition HERE.
“Note: The students in question all identify as cisgender, but this post also builds upon my own experiences to examine the policy/theoretical impact of the denial. While Reslife has some precedent on approving petitions if one member identifies as transgender, those who do not openly identify as transgender, or identify as somewhere in the middle of genders (such as myself) have not received this same approval. ”
Published February, 18th 2014