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Posts tagged ‘transgender rights’

Nov 29

‘All-gender’ housing moves forward. ‘Gender council’ next?

On Monday before the Thanksgiving recess began, the Community Council voted to formally recommend to administration all-gender housing options for sophomores for spring 2011 and onwards.

From the movement's Facebook group page.

At Sunday evening’s SGA meeting, after being submitted by then-Freshman Senator Tony Huynh ’13 this past May, a resolution entitled “Rooming Choice Act” s was finally passed. It calls on college administration to move on instituting sophomore-and-up all-gender options and exploring a “gender choice” option for incoming first-years.

If gender-neutral housing is instituted, students would be allowed to apply for single-room doubles with other students regardless of gender. Currently, students are not allowed to room with students identifying with the opposite gender.

The resolution cites the College’s non-discrimination statement and principles for residential life documents, the precedent of Middlebury’s peer institutions, and the need to create a supportive environment for students identifying as transgender and queer.

The gender-neutral housing movement has been largely, if not exclusively, spearheaded by current MOQA leaders Tony Huynh, Joey Radu, and Elizabeth King, also listed as the movement’s Facebook group’s administrators, since last April, as MiddBlog reported then.

The trio has been met with success in raising questions about gender, identity, and queerness this year, most notably in the extension of Middlebury’s traditional “Coming Out Week” to the wider queer and non-gender-identifying audience, casting events under the title “So Over the Rainbow Week” last month.

What’s next? Via the “Middlequeery” listserv email chain, Joey Radu announces:

While we are very excited by this victory, there is an even more important Community Council meeting TODAY, MONDAY the 29th at 4:30 P.M. in Old Chapel 206. [...] At this meeting, Lark Mulligan and Viveka Ray-Mazumder ’11 will be presenting the proposal to create a Gender Council modeled after the Environmental Council. This council would be a permanent body comprised of students, staff, and faculty, and would be a hub for gender- and social justice-related activism on campus. ([...] If you want to read them, send me an e-mail at jradu@middlebury.edu) As a reflection of its make-up, this council would address the issues of ALL members of the Middlebury community[...].

The proposed Gender Council would play a coordinating role, as per the proposal executive summary: “The Council would integrate gender consciously in all policies and college efforts, thereby ensuring that concerns pertaining to gender are always incorporated in a central fashion.”

What do you think? Should the all-gender housing option be open to first-years, too? Do we need a Gender Council on campus? EDIT (11.29, 14:19): Should bathrooms on campus be gender neutral? See what sociology professor Laurie Essig had to say about urinary segregation in The Chronicle of Higher Education earlier this semester.

Radu adds, “If this kind of activism is something that matters to you, we urge you to attend Monday’s meeting, as a Gender Council would be incredibly helpful to all of our efforts (including implementation of all-gender housing), and a wonderfully positive force for Middlebury as a whole.”

Oct 25

2 Comments

I’m Out.

I’m pretty sure Wednesday at Middlebury College will be a day for a collective sigh of relief.  The Middlebury Open Queer Alliance (MOQA) is spearheading a community-wide “I’m Out” day Wednesday. From their website:

The idea for Midd Out Day is to have everyone participate communally in an event that allows each individual to assert that they are comfortable with their own unique identity. Though the phrase “Coming out” is often referred to within the narrative of sexual orientation, our hope is that we can broaden the context in which this statement can be used. By being ‘OUT’ on Oct 27 individuals have the opportunity to recognize that they have many unique identities.

… With this in mind we encourage everyone who wants to join the movement to wear a T-shirt with “OUT” on the chest on Wednesday Oct 27. We are going to be making the shirts on Proctor terrace from Sunday Oct 24 to Wednesday Oct 27, and would love it if you would come and join us! We will provide the T-shirts, the spray paint, and the music to inspire you- all you need to do is come and you can create your own OUT T-shirt. You may also feel free to bring a shirt you already own and would like to spray paint.

MOQA members have told me that they’re happily running out of shirts, but thanks to sponsorship from all five commons and the Dean of the college, they’ll have some more available tomorrow between 12 and 2 on Proctor terrace.

So stop by and paint either your own shirt or they’ll provide one for you.  And don’t forget to wear your shirt Wednesday.

Finally, I’m proud to say that this blog is now read by an audience outside of the immediate Middlebury College community.  I think this idea of everyone being “out” for a day can and should spread.

I believe everyone should be “out” as someone who respects themself and others regardless of their physical body or their “gender” (the way they assign meaning to their bodies).  As long as people are respecting themselves and others, people have the prerogative to interpret their bodies any way they want.

I also believe everyone should be “out” as a respectful person regardless of where they come from or what they look like.  I think it would be amazing if the t-shirts people at Middlebury will wear Wednesday spring up elsewhere.

Say what you want about “queer theory,” but we are all human beings, and we should all be “out” as tolerant people to ourselves and others.

The one qualification I would offer in this is that being “out” should not belittle how hard it can be to “come out” as a homosexual or whatever else.  If you need support, I hope you can take solace in how very often, it gets better.