Spring 2015

The Inclusion of Gender and Sexual Minority Students in Campus Culture and Policy at the University of Oklahoma: A Survey of Existing Issues and Recommendations for Change Russell Bouyer Hayley Hinsberger Kelsey Kolbe Parker Manek Sarah Otts Alex Ruggiers Lena Tenney Em Wong Queer Inclusion on Campus

Table of Contents

Introduction.........................................................................................................................3 Concerns and Recommendations.......................................................................................5 1. Safe and Inclusive Housing Options 2. Safer Learning Environments 3. Supportive Services, Staff, and Spaces for Queer Students 4. Bias Incident Reporting System 5. Vice President of Diversity 6. Scholarships 7. Preferred Name/Pronouns in University Systems and Documents 8. The Equal Opportunity Policy 9. Curriculum Reform 10. Inclusive Student Healthcare Options 11. Inclusive Bathroom and Exercise Facilities Conclusion...........................................................................................................................16 References............................................................................................................................17 Glossary................................................................................................................................19 Additional Resources...........................................................................................................20

Note: This is a living document, and will be altered as we gain access to new information and hear more from the LGBTQ+ community here at OU.  

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Introduction The University of Oklahoma (OU) is the flagship institution in Oklahoma, bringing together some of the “best and the brightest” to receive a quality education in the degree of their choice. On the OU website, the homepage boldly declares that “OU students benefit from a diverse, vibrant campus and community and an exciting global heritage,” suggesting that students of all identities are welcome, safe, and included on this campus. While OU’s strong academic record, study abroad programs, student achievements, and campus resources are all mentioned in President David Boren’s “President’s Welcome,” he holds that “above all, OU has a strong sense of community...we are all part of a university family where we respect and care about each other.” Queer Inclusion on Campus (QuIC) at OU supports and affirms the idea behind President Boren’s message: that all students should feel welcome, safe, and included on OU’s campus. And yet we also recognize that the experiences of many students at OU are ones of discomfort and exclusion. For students with marginalized identities, there are numerous practices and policies at OU that create unsafe and unwelcoming environments. As students at OU seeking to make this university the best it can be, our goal is to confront existing issues and to recommend changes that will ultimately make OU a more diverse, accepting, and just community. We are advocating for the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and other gender and sexual minority students (LGBTQ+) in campus culture and policy. We aim to create safe and inclusive educational, professional, and social environments for LGBTQ+ students; to ensure their safety, health, and well being; and to increase the visibility of and empower our community. The following recommendations are all in line with this mission and represent our efforts to amend existing practices and policies that make OU an unsafe and exclusive environment for LGBTQ+ students. As one of the top public universities in the nation, it should be the goal of the University to attract, recruit, and retain exceptional students. This aim can only be achieved if OU ensures that all students have access to a safe environment where they can receive the highest quality of education. Queer students, by and large, do not feel that their needs and concerns are being addressed by the University, and this institutional failure has important implications for both queer students and the University itself. Queer high school students in Oklahoma should not feel that they have to leave the state in order to receive a college degree in safety and comfort. Queer students at OU should not feel that they must choose between living openly about their identity and fitting in on campus. QuIC calls on OU to actively seek to create an environment where LGBTQ+ students feel that they can grow, learn, and thrive, just like their straight counterparts. Ultimately, such efforts to ensure queer inclusion and equality can only positively influence the campus climate, student body, and national reputation of OU. OU already prides itself on its diverse student body; QuIC simply asks that OU follow through with this point of pride, and take measurable, clear actions to ensure that “diverse” students on this campus are afforded the opportunity to receive a university education in a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment. To this end, QuIC recognizes eleven distinct areas of improvement in working towards a safe and inclusive campus environment and provides recommendations for positive change in each of these areas. This list is the result of a discussion that took place among members of the  

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queer community at OU on March 12th, 2015. The purpose of this meeting was to talk about problems that queer students have faced on campus and to brainstorm solutions to address these issues. As such, QuIC makes the following recommendations, having ascertained that these are issues that are clearly and negatively affecting queer students at OU. The members of QuIC look forward to working together with administration, faculty, staff, and other students as we find and implement solutions to better the lives of queer students at OU.

 

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Areas of Improvement and Recommendations for Change 1. Safe and Inclusive Housing Options Concern: The benefits of living in on campus housing during college are well documented. According to the American Council on Education, “Students who live on campus have a 10 to 15 percent better chance of doing well in college than students living off campus. On-campus students have better grades, take more units, and are more likely to persevere to achieve a university degree.” In addition, the city of Norman does not include sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression in its non-discrimination laws. Therefore, a student who does not feel comfortable living on campus may face housing discrimination if they pursue living arrangements off campus. No student should be denied access to the unique and valuable experience of on-campus living. However, many LGBTQ students do not feel comfortable living in on-campus housing due to the limited number of inclusive housing options. A number of students expressed concerns at the community meeting about the limited nature of on-campus housing options available to students at OU. Individuals related stories of hostility from roommates and/or floormates; a feeling of not belonging to the community; fear of coming out to or being outed by peers; being placed on a floor that did not match their gender identity; and/or otherwise experiencing a lack of safety and/or inclusion when living in on campus housing. These personal experiences illustrate the immediate need for more inclusive housing options at OU. Currently, all students are required to live in on-campus residence halls during their first year at OU. Although exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis, the vast majority of students experience residence hall living. If students are required to live on campus then it is imperative that the living environment be inclusive and safe for all students. Many upperclassmen also choose to remain in on-campus housing during subsequent years, either in the residence halls or apartment complexes. These upperclassmen are likewise entitled to a positive and healthy living environment. Students are currently not permitted to live with individuals whose sex assigned at birth does not match their own. This means that trans students have very few options if they want to live on campus. Trans students are not permitted to live on floors or in apartments that match their gender identity. Personal accommodations are made when requested, but the burden of seeking accommodations is placed solely on the student—who may or may not be comfortable or safe outing themselves to the administration and fellow students. Therefore, it is imperative to create safe and inclusive housing options that trans students can access without incurring a significant intrusion into their personal matters. Recommendation: Gender inclusive housing is rapidly spreading throughout the country. Currently, 159 colleges and universities in the United States provide gender inclusive housing options to their students who live in on-campus housing. These gender inclusive housing options vary in nature, ranging from living-learning communities to themed floors to living with a mutually requested roommate regardless of gender. Given this context, QuIC proposes the following options to provide gender inclusive housing choices to OU students, thereby ensuring that students can feel safe and comfortable in  

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their living environments. These solutions include: creating a new special interest floor (e.g. Diversity and Inclusion floor, Social Justice floor, Gender and Diversity Inclusion Community), allowing students to check a box on the housing contract to indicate if they are LGBTQ friendly and comfortable with having a roommate who is LGBTQ, and changing the existing policy to allow individuals of different genders to share restroom facilities. QuIC is interested in collaborating with the Housing Center Student Association (HCSA) Gender Inclusive Housing Initiative committee in efforts to make on-campus housing options more inclusive. 2. Safer Learning Environments Concern: Currently, many LGBTQ+ students consistently have negative experiences in classrooms at OU, as faculty, staff, and fellow students fail to be knowledgeable about and sensitive to queer identities and experiences. At our queer community meeting, students talked about having experiences where they were silenced by their peers, misgendered by professors, and made to feel unwelcome by the use of non-inclusive language. Queer students talked about feeling trepidation in entering a new class because of fear that their professor or peers may be homophobic or simply ignorant about their identity. Some queer students even talked about professors exhibiting homophobic attitudes themselves. In such an environment, queer students are prevented from accessing a quality education and are inhibited from truly learning and thriving. Many queer students feel that they must hide their identities or censor themselves in what they say in classes, devoting immense amounts of energy and focus to the endeavor of not “outing” themselves. While some professors actively perpetuate harmful notions about LGBTQ+ identities, this problem is also exacerbated by the fact that many professors simply do not have the tools, in terms of language, expertise, and experience, to create learning environments that are safe and inclusive for all of their students. Creating safe and inclusive learning environments cannot be a passive process; rather, it requires intentional and clear actions that communicate expectations for behavior. When professors do not explicitly state policies on issues like harassment and bullying in their classes, they fail to take the active steps necessary to creating inclusive learning environments. The people who suffer as a result of these passive actions are students with minority identities in the classes, who must then take it upon themselves to respond to microaggressions and outright hostility from their peers. No student on this campus should ever be made to feel unsafe or unwelcome in a class, much less on a regular basis. Recommendation: In order to address the issue of unsafe classroom and campus environments, QuIC proposes that OU create and implement a mandatory faculty and staff training designed to foster cultural understanding and competency. While many faculty and staff members already voluntarily undergo the Sooner/Faculty Ally training, we request that all faculty and staff members be required to take a mandatory diversity or cultural competency training. It is not enough for some faculty and staff to consider themselves allies and understand the diverse range of identities and experiences that they will encounter among students in their classes. All

 

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students at this University should have the opportunity in every single class they take to feel welcome, included, accepted, and understood. Faculty and staff who are knowledgeable about LGBTQ+ identities—and indeed, all minority identities—will be situated to create safe and inclusive learning environments for all of their students. Many members of the OU community are already focused on this issue and have successfully created and facilitated diversity trainings for various groups on campus. Given that there are existing resources on this campus as well as faculty members who already care deeply about his issue, it seems that it would be fairly simple to implement a yearly mandatory faculty and staff diversity and/or cultural competency training. Taking this action would send the message that OU not only cares about diversity in the abstract sense, but also about creating safe and inclusive learning environments for those diverse students. 3. Supportive Services, Staff, and Spaces for Queer Students Concern: At present, queer students do not have any designated space on this campus. LGBTQ Programs is housed within the Women’s Outreach Center but does not have its own office. Similarly, the student organization, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Friends (GLBTF) does not have a permanent space dedicated to the needs of queer students on campus. Students who do not identify as women do not always know about or feel comfortable going to the Women’s Outreach Center in order to address their needs. Furthermore, since many LGBTQ+ students face hostility all over campus—from passersby, fellow students, professors, and other community members—it is vital that these students have a place to go where they know they will not be harassed. Additionally, there is no staff position at OU dedicated solely to responding to the needs and concerns of LGBTQ+ students. While several faculty and staff are doing wonderful work for the queer community on this campus, they all have additional responsibilities, putting both queer students and these staff members themselves at a disadvantage. Recommendation: Many other universities in our area already have a designated space for LGBTQ+ students on campus. This includes many public universities in our region, including Iowa State University, University of Indiana, University of Wyoming, University of Kansas, University of Tennessee, and University of Nebraska, among many others. The Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals compiled a map of many of the universities with LGBTQ Resource Centers, and our research shows that there are even more universities with resource centers than depicted on this map. According to an article by Campus Pride, at the University of Southern Maine, “[h]aving an LGBTQ and Ally Resources Program increased the visibility of the queer community on campus, provided more money for programming, increased participation in our Safe Zone Project, and helped to connect queer students and staff with one another” (Campus Pride). At OU, having both a resource center and a designated staff member could help us achieve many of those same goals. We propose that OU designate a space for an LGBTQ Resource Center on this campus. Ideally, this space would:

 

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• • • •

have a full-time staff member available to plan events and provide assistance and resources. be a space for students to receive advice about getting help for various issues they may face, including coming out, hostile roommates, mental health issues, and more. be a center for information about LGBTQ+ events and organization. serve as a safe social and study lounge for LGBTQ+ students and allies.

4. Bias Incident Reporting System Concern: At our community meeting, many students expressed dissatisfaction with the campus climate for LGBTQ+ people. Microaggressions and hostility experienced by students on this campus ranges from receiving unfriendly stares from passerby while holding hands with a partner to hearing ignorant comments from professors in class to being verbally and physically harassed. However, many students are unaware of how they can address these uncomfortable and sometimes unsafe situations. Students currently have very few options to report hostile or discriminatory behavior that occurs on campus. Many negative interactions do not reach the level of discrimination required to be reported as a hate crime to the police or as discrimination to the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office or the Institutional Equity and Title IX Office. In fact, many of these microaggressions and hostile behaviors can be classified as bias incidents, which are defined as: “…hate-motivated behaviors that may not be ‘criminal,’ such as taunting, verbal harassment, bias-motivated bullying and intimidation. Some examples include the posting or circulating of demeaning jokes, printed material, caricatures or hate-group literature. Although they are not considered hate crimes, these incidents should be considered serious incidents that can have long-lasting negative effects on both students and faculty.” (American Defamation League) Recommendation: QuIC proposes that the University implement a bias incident reporting system, which would allow members of the campus community to report negative incidents that they experience on campus that are related to their minority identity. This recommendation provides all students on campus with the means of acknowledging and addressing bias incidents that they experience. Furthermore, a bias incident reporting system would provide the University with data on what kinds of incidents are occurring and in what contexts, which will allow it to respond more quickly and effectively to reports of discrimination and bias. A clearly defined and welladvertised bias incident reporting system would also provide OU with the opportunity to address problematic behavior before it escalates. Students would be able to report incidents directly to the university, rather than feeling that they must keep the incidents to themselves or share the incidents with the media in order to solicit a response from the university. Many other universities across the nation have established such programs, which provides OU with a model of how to create, implement, and process such a reporting system. The bias incident reporting system would ideally permit members of the OU community to report incidents either online or over the phone. Individuals who experience a bias incident

 

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would complete a simple online form that requests information about the incident, such as the location of the incident, identity of the perpetrator if known, what aspect of their identity was being targeted, and whether the reporting party wishes to be contacted further by the university in regarding to addressing the incident. Bias incidents could be reported either anonymously or with an attached name depending on the wishes of the individual who was targeted by the behavior. Reported incidents are investigated and addressed by campus administrators who review the bias incidents and then take appropriate action in response. An example of a bias incident reporting system can be found at http://urespect.umich.edu/report/form, which is the URL through which students, faculty, and staff at the University of Michigan can report bias incidents to campus administration. 5. LGBTQ Representation in University Administration Concern: As we mentioned in Item 3, currently there is no staff member at OU whose sole responsibility is to respond to the needs of LGBTQ students. Until very recently, the executive hierarchy at OU did not have a position addressing diversity of any kind. Now that a position has been established, we want to make sure that LGBTQ students are represented as part of OU's diversity Recommendation: We were glad to hear President Boren announce that he has selected a “vice president for the university community.” We stand with Unheard in our support of this measure. Especially in light of recent events, it is vitally important to educate students about diversity and to designate a staff member who can respond to the needs of students of color and of other minority identities. We want to reiterate that true diversity does not only denote racial or ethnic diversity because queer students make OU a diverse institution as well. Since queer students face discrimination on the basis of difference every day at OU, these students will also expect to be able to come to the new vice president with their complaints and concerns. The vice president needs to be trained in and knowledgeable about LGBTQ issues and, further, must be willing and able to accommodate queer students of any race. 6. Scholarships Concern: LGBTQ+ students on OU’s campus face hurdles that other students may not in regards to paying for college. Coming out is a unique challenge that our community faces, and this process sometimes results in the loss of familial support, both financially and emotionally. A study produced by the Williams Institute shows that as many as 40% of homeless youth are LGBTidentified, demonstrating that queer people are still frequently disowned and rejected by their families (Durso and Gates). When some students reveal to their parents their sexual or gender identity, they are scorned and shamed by the people they trust and rely on the most. Some students are also pressured by their parents to attend so-called “conversion therapy” as a stipulation of continuing their education. If they refuse to subject themselves to this inhumane

 

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and degrading treatment, they are disowned and left to fend for themselves, financially and otherwise. Even without considering the financial impact of coming out to intolerant parents, queer students who are emotionally ostracized suddenly lose the strong support system that they have relied on for their entire lives, resulting in emotional and psychological pain and trauma. Universities are first and foremost institutions of learning for students, and the safety and well being of those students must be their highest priority. LGBTQ+ students are no less deserving of safety and well being than their peers, and so it is necessary that the University acknowledges and actively addresses the distinctive challenges and obstacles that they face in completing their education. Specifically, the University must understand that queer students may need financial aid from the University because of the struggles that they face as queer people in Oklahoma and on OU’s campus, and that this aid is necessary if many of these students are to graduate. Recommendation: QuIC proposes that OU offer scholarships to students on campus who identify as LGBTQ and present a financial need, thus addressing the unique hurdles that they may face because of their identity. Many other universities recognize the need for these kinds of scholarships and have programs in place that provide financial support to queer students in need. For example, the University of Alabama offers the Elliot Jones Scholarship for GLBT Activism Scholarship, which provides funds for queer undergraduates and graduate students. The University of New Hampshire offers a scholarship award through the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs for undergraduate and graduate students “who, through their scholarship, leadership or other outstanding efforts, fosters greater understanding concerning sexual orientation and gender identity in the UNH community.” Elmhurst College offers the Enrichment Scholarship provided through the Office of Financial Aid, which was created “specifically for members of underrepresented groups, including LGBT students.” This scholarship offers students who qualify a one-third reduction in tuition, underscoring their deep commitment to embracing and supporting all students on their campus.” OU can do better to support, encourage, and retain queer students, and a key means of achieving that goal is to provide financial assistance to queer students, out of an understanding that LGBTQ+ students often face distinctive financial hurdles and difficulties because of their identities. 7. Preferred Name/Pronouns in University Systems and Documents Concern: Currently, it is impossible for students at the University to indicate their preferred name and pronouns in University systems and official documents. While this problem affects many students at OU who simply choose to go by a name different than their legal name, it most strongly impacts transgender and gender non-conforming students. Because their legal name is the one found on all official university documents and systems, including D2L and Ozone, transgender students carry the burden of informing every single professor they ever have while at the University of their correct name and pronouns. During every new semester, these students find themselves in the untenable position of either having to out themselves to their professors prior to classes starting in order to inform them of their correct name and pronouns or to risk being outed in front of their peers when their professor misnames/misgenders them.

 

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In either case, trans students are forced to divulge extremely personal information about themselves to a stranger(s), potentially becoming targets of transphobia and/or homophobia. This problematic policy also has negative effects on trans students who are taking online classes or who are participating in online portions of classes, such as interacting on D2L discussion boards. In these cases, trans students have no recourse whatsoever for correcting their professor and/or peers in regards to their correct name and pronouns, and thus must cope with the constant stress of being misnamed, misgendered, and otherwise misidentified for an entire semester. Finally, trans students are also unable to indicate their correct name and pronouns on their student identification card, which they use on a daily basis to access services and resources at the University. Again, they must constantly navigate the dilemma of either outing themselves to strangers if they attempt to provide their correct name and pronouns, or of staying silent and being misidentified, thus having their identity devalued, marginalized, and silenced. Being called by the wrong name or being referred to by the wrong pronoun is painful, degrading, and exhausting, amounting to a series of microaggressions that combine to create an extremely hostile environment for many students. The University’s current policies force trans students to shoulder the burden of dealing with this issue entirely by themselves, and it is a burden that they must confront with the passing of every new semester. The campus climate for trans and gender non-conforming students is hostile, with the majority of faculty, staff, and students having very little understanding of their identities and experiences. The current university policy on preferred names and pronouns only encourages and perpetuates that hostile climate, preventing trans and gender non-conforming students from feeling safe, welcome, and included in campus life. Recommendation: At many public universities across the nation, including institutions in our region like the University of Houston, students’ preferred name is now the default name on class rosters, grade rosters, student milestones, transcript notes, and other university documents. Students can either fill out an official form or simply input their correct name and pronouns in their university’s online system. At OU, for example, students could hypothetically provide this information on their Ozone account, which connects to D2L and would update class rosters. Regardless of how this change is implemented, it is of vital importance in terms of ensuring that transgender and gender non-conforming students feel safe and validated, in both the academic and social spheres of university life. 8. The Equal Opportunity Policy Concern: At present, OU’s equal opportunity policy states that OU “does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, age (40 or older), religion, disability, political beliefs, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices, or procedures. This includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, housing, financial aid, and educational services.” However, transgender and gender-nonconforming students also face discrimination in areas such as employment, housing, and the learning environment, often at rates much higher

 

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than their peers. In fact, according to one study, transgender people face unemployment at double the rate of the larger population (Human Rights Campaign). Recommendation: We propose that the equal opportunity policy be expanded to make it absolutely clear that the university does not discriminate on the basis of gender identity or gender expression, in addition to sexual orientation and race. Campus Pride explains why policies that do not cover gender identity are not enough to protect all students: “College nondiscrimination policies include ‘sex’ and often ‘sexual orientation’ as protected categories. The reference to ‘sex’ in such policies has historically not been considered to apply to transgender people. Likewise, ‘sexual orientation’ does not necessarily cover transgender people, who encounter discrimination because of their gender identity and expression, rather than their sexual identity. Having a trans-inclusive nondiscrimination policy gives legal recourse to students who experience discrimination because they are (or are perceived) as trans and indicates to all students that antitransgender discrimination will not be tolerated.” According to Campus Pride, there are nearly 850 Universities that explicitly mention gender identity or expression in their Equal Opportunity Policies, including Auburn University, the University of Alabama, Oklahoma City University, the University of Tulsa, Texas A&M, Texas Christian University, the University of Arkansas, Arkansas Tech, the University of Kansas, Kansas State, the University of New Mexico, and New Mexico State. 9. Curriculum Reform Concern: General Education at OU is considered to be “the heart of OU’s mission...designed to ensure that graduating Sooners have breadth and depth—the fundamental knowledge and skills they need to flourish as individuals and as citizens” (OU General Education). Dr. Kyle Harper suggests that General Education is “where our students explore the breadth of human knowledge, expression, and experience” (OU General Education). While QuIC affirms that this should be the goal of the general education requirement, we contend that in its current form, it fails to carry out its intended purpose. While the General Education requirement includes classes on artistic forms, natural sciences, Western civilization, non-Western culture, and American federal government, it fails to include a diversity requirement. This failure has significant implications for students with minority or marginalized identities on this campus because it means that their identities and experiences are not acknowledged and understood by their peers. At our queer community meeting, students talked about facing hostility and harassment from their peers when they held hands with their significant other on campus, or when they dressed in a way that varied from the norm. Students talked about the exhausting and continuous process of self-policing that they undertake on campus every single day, censoring their language, behavior, and clothing in order to avoid being threatened or harassed. Students talked about feeling physically unsafe on campus because of the ignorant or bigoted attitudes of their peers. Students talked about being tokenized by those in positions of power on campus, and feeling like they were only welcomed into a space in order to fulfill some type of “diversity

 

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quota.” Students talked about experiences where straight peers would come to GLBTF events in order to “research” people different from themselves as part of a class requirement, making the queer students in attendance feel unsafe and othered. The current campus climate and atmosphere is not one of safety and inclusion for LGBTQ+ students—or any minority students— and a primary cause of this problem is other students’ widespread ignorance of their identities and experiences. Recommendation: QuIC proposes that the University incorporate into the General Education curriculum a diversity requirement, whereby students at OU will be required to take a class relating to some aspect of diversity prior to graduation. The diversity requirement could be fulfilled by courses that are already offered at the University, such as those contained within the African American Studies, Native American Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies programs and departments. The University has a number of classes already in existence that would perfectly align with the goals of implementing a diversity requirement, such as Social Justice and Social Change (WGS 3123). This change has a great deal of precedent, considering the fact that “a majority of fouryear institutions across the country, including Washington State University, already have a diversity requirement for graduation” (The Seattle Times). Most schools embrace the aforementioned strategy, whereby students can take classes that are already offered in the existing curriculum in order to fulfill their diversity requirement. Other schools have created a separate class dedicated to issues of diversity that students are required to take in order to graduate. If the goal of General Education is to allow students to “explore the breadth of human knowledge, expression, and expression,” then it is incumbent upon the University to ensure that this goal is truly being met. Any attempt to understand the human experience must necessarily include the ways in which that very experience is shaped, influenced, and informed by the vast diversity of social identities and experiences. This change has the potential to shift campus climate and culture in a positive direction towards greater openness, inclusion, and acceptance of all members of our community. 10. Inclusive Student Healthcare Options Concern: For transgender students who wish to access gender reassignment surgery (GRS) or hormone replacement therapy (HRT), cost can be prohibitive. These procedures are an incredibly important part of trans health; they are not merely cosmetic. GRS and HRT reduce gender dysphoria, which, in addition to harassment and discrimination, can be a significant distraction from work and school for transgender students. Currently, OU student health insurance does not cover surgery or hormones at all. However, at our community meeting, several transgender students raised this issue, asking why the student health plan is not transgender-inclusive. Recommendation: We want these students’ complaints to be heard by everyone on this campus, not just by the LGBTQ+ community. Changing the health plan to cover hormone therapy and surgery is an

 

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important way to support trans health and will contribute to creating an inclusive, identityaffirming learning environment for students. Campus Pride contends that “colleges and universities should remove the clause that insurance companies regularly include in their exemptions that denies coverage for transsexualrelated medical care. The institutions that have done so report that there is no or only a minimal additional cost.” In fact, these changes have already been implemented at some universities in our region. Nationally, there are 62 colleges and universities that cover hormones and gender reassignment surgery in their student health plan. This list includes the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Missouri, Ohio State University, the University of Houston, and Emory University. There are also 20 more schools across the country that cover hormones but not surgery, such as the University of Iowa. By changing the health plan, OU could join this long list of schools in supporting trans health. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) report on health risk behaviors among students in grades 9–12 documented that gay and lesbian youth had higher prevalence rates for 49% to 90% of all health risks. Specifically, this included higher rates for 7 of 10 health risk categories including: violence, suicide, tobacco use, alcohol use, other drug use, and sexual behaviors (Kann et al., 2011). Bisexual students had higher prevalence rates for 57% to 86% of all health risks measured and had higher rates for 8 of 10 health risk categories, including behaviors contributing to unintentional injuries, violence, attempted suicide, tobacco use, alcohol use, other drug use, sexual behaviors, and weight management (Kann et al., 2011). Briefly, we would also like to focus on LGBTQ mental health at OU. According to NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness), people who identify as LGBTQ are nearly 3 times more likely than the general population to experience a mental illness like major depression or an anxiety disorder. Because of the stresses of discrimination, harassment, and stigma, LGBTQ people have a clear need for supportive mental health services. At our community meeting, many students raised concerns about the difficulty of finding counseling staff members who are experienced and respectful when dealing with LGBTQ patients. We appreciate that the OU Counseling Center hosts an LGBTQ therapy group and that all counselors in the center undergo Sooner Ally trainings. However, these accommodations are not widely publicized (neither item appears on the website at all), and it is clear from the number of student complaints that our counseling center needs to be more welcoming of queer and trans community members. While this issue is complex, it is likely that, for example, a bias reporting system where students can report their negative experiences with staff will help students and counseling staff work through complaints. 11. Inclusive Bathroom and Exercise Facilities Concern: Some members of the LGBTQ+ community on our campus have expressed discomfort with using women’s or men’s restrooms and locker rooms, either because they identify as neither women nor men or because they have been made to feel unwelcome in those spaces because their gender expressions do not fit in with the norm. According to the Sooner Ally Resource Guide, there are only about 15 unisex or family restrooms on OU’s main campus. Some of these are concentrated such that many buildings and even whole regions of campus have none at all,

 

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including the Huston Huffman Fitness Center. We believe that all students should have access to safe restroom and changing facilities while on campus. Recommendation: QuIC proposes that OU increase the number of single-occupancy all-gender restrooms on campus. Any person, of any gender identity and expression, could use these facilities. Specifically, we seek the following accommodations and changes: 1. All existing single-occupancy restrooms be converted from gender-specific (marked for women or men) to gender neutral. 2. Newly constructed and renovated buildings incorporate gender-neutral restrooms. 3. A single-occupancy changing and restroom space be added to the Huston Huffman Fitness Center to make the fitness facilities better available to people unable to use the men’s or women’s locker room and restroom. 4. Generally, that OU commits to expanding the number of buildings with gender-neutral facilities. We believe that students should have access to gender-neutral restrooms in every building on campus. While we recognize that this goal is impossible to achieve immediately, we hope to work with OU’s administration to implement a long-term plan that addresses this hugely significant need on campus. Campus Pride lists providing gender-inclusive bathrooms as a best practice for supporting trans and non-binary gender students. They explain that “colleges and universities should create at least one gender-inclusive restroom in each campus building by changing the signage on existing men’s and women’s restrooms and require all newly constructed buildings to include at least one gender-inclusive restroom.” But the need for genderneutral restrooms extends beyond the LGBTQ+ community. The Unitarian Universalist Association suggests that many members of our community can benefit from gender-neutral restrooms, including: • People who are uncomfortable in men’s or women’s rooms for many reasons; for example, people who are not women or men and/or people who are gender nonconforming • Parents/caregivers whose children are a different gender from them • People with caregivers or personal attendants who are a different gender from them Thus, this change would positively impact people who identify as LGBTQ+ as well as the broader university community in terms of making restrooms more accessible to a diverse range of people.

 

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Conclusion Members of QuIC and the broader LGBTQ+ community at the University of Oklahoma have recognized key areas in need of improvement in order to achieve the broader goal of an inclusive, safe, and welcoming campus community. Having outlined the existing issues, we have made recommendations for how to begin to shift the current toxic and harmful campus climate towards one of acceptance and justice for all students at the University. We make these strong requests for change after significant discussion and deliberation, having determined that these areas of campus life are currently the most problematic for LGBTQ+ students and that there are clear solutions for addressing these issues. At the queer community meeting held on March 12th, 2015, over forty LGBTQ+ students gathered to discuss their experiences on campus. Many brought up stories of pain, hurt, and harm experienced on this campus. Many talked about feeling unsafe, physically and otherwise, because of the attitudes of their peers and professors. Many discussed the widespread use of harmful and problematic language, employed by fellow students as well as faculty and staff members, which denied, devalued, and marginalized their identities. Some talked about the Sooner Ally program being more harmful than helpful, as some faculty and staff members and students claim the label without understanding real allyship. Almost none of the students said that they felt comfortable or safe in reporting incidents of harassment or discrimination. Most said that they did not even know whom to tell when called “faggot,” “dyke,” or “homo” on campus. Many students related experiences of feeling unsafe in classrooms, in restrooms, in public spaces, in a professor’s office, and at community events on campus. Not a single student present at this community meeting was able to say, without reservations, that they had had an entirely positive experience as a queer person at OU. As we are sure the University administration will agree, this current situation is unacceptable. It is the responsibility of the University to ensure that all students are able to receive a college education in safety. All students at OU should be able to expect that they will be included, welcomed, and accepted in all spaces on campus, especially classrooms and community events. It is not enough to simply state that OU has a commitment to diversity; rather, the University must take action to ensure that diversity is fostered and celebrated, with students holding those diverse identities being truly included and welcomed on this campus. QuIC thus suggests the aforementioned recommendations for change, in the hopes that the University of Oklahoma will take swift action to address the safety and well being of the LGBTQ+ community at OU.

 

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References "Colleges and Universities That Cover Transition-Related Medical Expenses Under Student Health Insurance." Campus Pride. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015. . "Defining Cultural Competence." Defining Cultural Competence. National Association of School Psychologists, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015. "Definition of Misgender in English:." Misgender. Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015. "Definition of Other in English:." Other: Definition of Other in Oxford Dictionary (American English) (US). Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015. Durso, Laura E., and Gary J. Gates. "Serving Our Youth: Findings from a National Survey of Services Providers Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth Who Are Homeless or at Risk of Becoming Homeless." (n.d.): n. pag.Williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu. The Williams Institute. Web. "Gender Dysphoria ." Gender Dysphoria. National Health Services, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015. . "Gender Neutral Bathrooms." Unitarian Universalist Association. Unitarian Universalist Association, n.d. Web. 24 March 2015. Genny, Beemyn. "Best Practices for Supporting Trans and Non-Binary Gender Students." Campus Pride. Campus Pride, Inc, n.d. Web. 24 March 2015. "LGBTQ." NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015. . "Responding to Bigotry and Intergroup Strife on Campus: Guide for College and University Administrators." Anti-Defamation League, 2013. Web. 4 Apr. 2015. . "Starting an LGBTQ Resource Center" Campus Pride. Campus Pride, Inc, 2014. Web. 24 March 2015. "Transgender Workers at Greater Risk for Unemployment and Poverty." HRC Blog. Human Rights Campaign, 6 Sept. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2015. .

 

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Turnbull, Lornet. "UW to Require Diversity Course." Local News. Seattle Times, 9 June 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2015. . "Why General Education?" General Education: The University Of Oklahoma. N.p., 4 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2015. .

 

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Glossary cultural competency: A set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross-cultural situations (Defining Cultural Competence). gender dysphoria: A condition where a person experiences discomfort or distress because there is a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity (Gender Dysphoria). gender expression: The way we convey our masculinity or femininity outwardly. Gender expression may include hair length, makeup, clothing, posture, speech style, and many other personal attributes. gender identity: The sense of “being” male, female, genderqueer, agender, etc. The innate “feeling” of gender. gender-nonconforming: A gender-nonconforming person is someone whose gender expression does not fit in existing gender norms. Some gender-nonconforming people identify outside the gender binary (i.e. they do not identify as a man or a woman). Other gender-nonconforming people identify as men or women, but do not follow some gender norms (so, a man who wears makeup may consider himself gender-nonconforming). microaggression: A small act of discrimination. Microaggressions (for example, intrusive stares and ignorant questions) are often unintended by the perpetrator and may seem harmless on their own. However, experiencing many microaggressions over a lifetime can have a lasting effect. misgender: Referring to (someone, especially a transgender person) using a word, especially a pronoun or form of address, that does not correctly reflect the gender with which they identify (Definition of Misgender). othering: Viewing or treating a person or group of people as intrinsically different from and alien to oneself (Definition of Other). outing: The act of disclosing a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. queer: Although “queer” was once a slur against LBGTQ+ people, it now is used as: 1. An umbrella term sometimes used by LGBTQ+ people to refer to the entire LGBTQ+ community. 2. Some people in the LGBTQ+ community identify as “queer”; this is often connected to a desire to subvert the idea of labels and categories such as gay, lesbian, etc. trans/transgender: An umbrella term applied to those whose gender identity is not the same as the sex they were assigned at birth. transphobia: Intentional or unintentional bias, discrimination, or violence against transgender people  

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Additional Resources Transgender Law and Policy Institute: http://www.transgenderlaw.org/college/guidelines.htm LGBTQArchitect: http://architect.lgbtcampus.org Campus Pride – Trans Policies at Universities/Colleges: http://www.campuspride.org/tpc/     Campus Pride – Gender Inclusive Housing: http://www.campuspride.org/tpc-gih/     Campus Pride – Supporting Trans Students: http://www.campuspride.org/tools/best-practices-tosupport-transgender-and-other-gender-nonconforming-students/ Resources on Gender Neural Restrooms • “The  Restroom  Revolution:  Unisex  toilets  and  campus  politics”  from  U.  of  Massachusetts   at  Amherst:   http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=olga_gershenson&seiredir=1&referer=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3D gender%2Bneutral%2Bbathrooms%2Buniversities%2B%26btnG%3D%26as_sdt%3D1%252 C37%26as_sdtp%3D#search=%22gender%20neutral%20bathrooms%20universities%22   • http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/local/2015/03/17/unf-plans-for-additional-genderneutral-restrooms-oncampus/24917411/ • http://www.uua.org/lgbtq/welcoming/ways/bathrooms American Defamation League document (“Responding to Bigotry and Intergroup Strife on Campus: A Guide for College and University Presidents and Senior Administrators”): http://archive.adl.org/campus/guide/bias_incidents.html#.VQXEFeE9-XE LGBTQArchitect website: http://architect.lgbtcampus.org/report_hate_and_bias_response

 

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