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• 1 media/u oregon.JPG 2015-10-21T21:45:41-07:00 Campus Climate 28 image_header 2015-12-02T19:29:42-08:00

  Anti-Transgender Climate
  Without a more concerted policy focus and consensus both at the federal and state level, the typical college campus remains intolerant and not accepting of the transgender community. Research indicates that anti-transgender atmospheres are prevalent among college campuses in the U.S. They found sexual harassment to be common and widespread within a university's general student body. When breaking it down into subgroups according to race, sex, gender identity and so on, the LGBTQ community was found to be particularly at risk for sexual harassment. They were more likely than their heterosexual peers to fall victim to sexual harassment and, as a result, developed a more negative attitude towards their college experience¹¹.
  
  Dr. Genny Beemyn, an advocate for transgender student rights, uses a recent example to highlight the anti-transgender climate on campus and the struggles of a transgender student.
  
  
  Study 1: Hill & Silva (2005)
  98% of LGBTQ students experience harassment from their peers, 13% from their teachers and 11% from their school employees. Interestingly, it is not the faculty and staff that are the biggest offenders of harassment against transgender students but, in fact, the general student body of the university. This suggests that the most negative, anti-transgender attitudes are coming directly from the peers of transgender students.
  
  Study 2: Rankin (2005)
  20% of students feel unsafe in their college environment due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. An additional 51% reported as hiding their gender identity or sexual orientation to avoid confrontation and harassment. Most of the faculty, staff and students reported their campuses as being largely hostile toward LGBTQ students but reported the opposite for non-LGBTQ students. Almost half of the participants reported that their college does not provide sufficient opportunities to discuss and address issues related to the LGBTQ community. Interestingly, 42% of the general campus body reported that they perceived transgender students as very likely to be harassed. Practically half of the participants recognized the struggle that transgender students face on college campuses and yet their fight is continuously downplayed, ignored or even contested.

  
  
  
  Administrative Discrimination
  University administrations are other actors contributing to anti-transgender movements in higher education. Certain universities have been vocal about rejecting any progressive policies that support transgender students. Recently there were two cases where universities have openly opposed the transgender community and their fight for rights on campus.
  
  George Fox University
  In 2014, a Christian college in Oregon openly opposed and requested exemption from the Title IX amendment. A current George Fox student, Jayce, who identified as male attempted to apply for the male student housing but was rejected. On the basis of Title IX, he argued that he could not be banned from housing designated for one gender and that he had the right to live with his male peers. The university, however, would only offer him private housing that was separate from the male quarters. While the student petitioned against the university, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights denied his dispute claiming that they could not interfere with a university’s religious principles. These principles, according to the OCR, take precedence over Title IX regulations¹².
  
  California Baptist University
  A student who identified as female but was not born as such, was admitted to the school. The administration was made aware and proceeded to expel her on the grounds that she “lied” to the university. The judge ruled in favor of the university’s decision based on the school's moral values but denied its ability to block the student from public university grounds and enrolling in its online courses. These two cases present problems and loopholes within the current U.S legal system. While Title IX may claim to protect transgender students from sex discrimination, there are ways in which universities can discriminate without repercussion. With these two cases, the difficulty lies within religious values taking precedence over transgender rights¹².
  
  Smith College
  Calliope Wong, a transgender woman, was denied entry to Smith College because not all of her paperwork identified her as female.  She argues that how she identifies herself on the internal Smith forms should be the forms used to determine entry based on gender, not governmental forms such as the FASFA.

  
  Housing Discrimination
  Specifically in relation to housing, 20% of the transgender participants reported being denied gender-appropriate housing⁰⁹. While the two cases above may have been able to avoid the Title IX regulation on fair housing for transgender individuals, there is a common occurrence among many universities of denying transgender students the right to apply for housing with the gender in which they identify. Some participants went so far as to say they were denied housing altogether (5%) and many reported their inability to use bathrooms according to their gender identity. These statistics all contradict the current Title IX provisions put in place to protect the transgender community from such discrimination. While it may appear that our nation is moving the right direction towards supporting the transgender community, we have yet to make a dent in genuine policy and practice at the state and local level. Many universities still present hostile, discouraging environments for transgender students that force them either to conceal their identity or learn to live with the everyday discrimination and harassment.