Although some universities have added protection for transgender people to their anti-discrimination policies, MSU staff and students have no gender identity regulations.
The policy, which was revised in April 1993, excludes the category of transgender. Despite the university’s position, some student organizations on campus have adopted gender identity in their policies, including Residence Halls Association, The State News and ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government.
Transgender people generally are people whose gender identity or expression does not match their socially prescribed gender.
But MSU Trustee Dorothy Gonzales said she thinks the university should add gender identity to its policy.
“I think we should’ve been more sensitive to that and included students,” she said. “I don’t know how that would change the dynamics of the policy. I think it was targeted more toward our employees and we were modeling what happened at other universities to cover their employees. I think if we are talking about an inclusive approach, it would be good to include students.”
MSU officials said at least four universities wrote protection for transgender people into their anti-discrimination policies, including Eastern Michigan University, Rutgers University, the University of Iowa and the University of Minnesota.
“It’s important because the university is a very diverse place, and we have to recognize all the people who make up the university,” said Ward Mullens, spokesman for Eastern Michigan University.
Representatives from the Council of Racial Ethnic Students and the Council of Progressive Students met with university officials last week to discuss a course of action when hate crimes occur. The groups discussed ways to end hateful incidents, such as preventative programming.
ASMSU’s Academic Assembly representatives said they plan to recommend that the Board of Trustees consider a change to the university’s policy.
Matt Weingarden, ASMSU student assembly vice chairperson for internal affairs and co-chairperson of the Alliance for Lesbian-Bi-Gay-Transgendered and Straight Ally Students, said he thinks student organizations have added gender identity to increase acceptance of others.
“The main reason the change was initiated was because it was a matter of being more inclusive in terms of recognizing that people are more diverse in how they express their gender,” he said. “It’s kind of depressing when student groups are doing things faster than the university.”
Weingarden said the addition was necessary for ASMSU because other areas were enacting similar policies.
“With ASMSU, we felt like it was time,” he said. “Recently, a lot of cities in the state adopted policies that were inclusive of gender identity. Because it’s been happening across the state, we wanted to remain progressive.”
Weingarden said he thinks the university’s acceptance of the policy is crucial.
“I think it’s very important because a lot of the discrimination that happens to people is based on gender identity stereotypes,” he said. “When you have a policy, it says, ‘We don’t tolerate discrimination.’”
Josh Minor, internal vice president of RHA, said a vote was held in December to include gender identity in its policy.
“We felt we needed to take a pro-active role and lead the way for the university to include gender identity,” Minor said. “Early on, members from the alliance gave a presentation that made other representatives in RHA aware of what gender identity is and the problems that occur on campus and throughout the country with it not being included in nondiscrimination clauses.”
General management senior Tamar Jourian, a member of the alliance, said she thinks rigid gender roles are restricting.
“Gender identity is a very controversial topic,” she said. “The university should adopt gender identity into its policy because as of now, it’s still possible to deny housing or a professor can tell a student to leave class if their gender identity makes them uncomfortable. There is not repercussion for such action.”
Despite the university’s policy, Jourian said she hasn’t been discriminated against.
“It hasn’t affected me directly because I don’t openly identify as transgendered,” she said. “I still check the female box. But it has affected me emotionally, because once I do come out, anyone can directly discriminate against me personally, and I don’t have the power to take action against them.”
