UT
NIVERSITY IMES
May 11, 2015
www.csulauniversitytimes.com
C A L I F O R N I A S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y, L O S A N G E L E S
Issue 209.7
The Gender Neutral Movement Reaches Cal State L.A.
Hannah Jacobsen Intern
From April 20th to April 24th, the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA) and the Trans*Queer Connection (TQC) led a scavenger hunt at Cal State L.A. to campaign for genderneutral restrooms. This event was planned after the group received a list of alleged gender-neutral facilities on campus with the help of A.S.I president, Shane Vera.
Members of the Trans* and Queer Equity Campaign explain the push for gender neutral bathrooms.
“I don’t know if this will ever have an end,” Valenzuela admitted, “but I want this campaign to create a feeling of power in our students. There is a problem with the power dynamics if an institution fears its students and fears that they will create change. I want to the freedom to apply concepts I’ve learned in the classroom to our campus community.”
“Our campaign is meant to debunk the myth that genderneutral restrooms on campus are accessible or visible,” said Trinidad Castaneda, a campaign organizer and Anthropology student at Cal State L.A., “TQC and FMLA went on a scavenger hunt to get photographic evidence that some of the restrooms listed as ‘Neutral Gender’ are still not all-gender inclusive.”
Some Cal State L.A. students such as Bamby Salcedo -- a leading Latina Trans* activist -have gone as far as Washington D.C. to add their voice to a growing segment of America who want inclusion in institutional policies and in everyday life. The press for gender inclusive policies on campus is reflective of a call for change occurring across the nation.
Members of the Trans* and Queer Equity Campaign are proposing a simple and inexpensive change to school restrooms currently claiming to be gender neutral: change the sign to say “All Gender Restroom.” The motivation for this campaign was spurred by last quarter’s cancellation of Sex Toys ‘R’ Us, an event that made frontpage news in The University Times. “We were livid,” said Castaneda,”The whole controversy shocked me. Top administrators were prioritizing a small outside influence over the students! TLGBQ* identities being seen as taboo or indecent is infuriating. We had an organizing session to talk about real change on this campus and decided that our first project should be simple and tangible. So we chose the
INSIDE:
This first demand is just one out of the many changes that the Trans* and Queer Equity Campaign hope to see. Other items include allowing for name changes of ID’s, adding the ‘T’ option on applications regarding student identity, requiring genderdiverse training for faculty and staff, and improving counseling options for students struggling with their identity.
Photo by http://lgbtq.missouri.edu
restrooms.” A major concern of parties reluctant to take the gender out of bathrooms is the potential increase of sexual violence and sexual harassment. Members of the Trans* and Queer Equity Campaign attest that transgender individuals confront the possibility of violence each time they stand before male and
female restroom signs; deciding between two worlds they are not welcomed in. “For me, as an openly trans student, it’s more than a restroom,” said Lysander Valenzuela, a campaign organizer and Liberal Studies major at Cal State L.A., “We never feel safe when the campus continues to allow the discrimination in gender binaries
such as the separation of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ in bathroom signs.” A 2010 attack on a transgender graduate student at a Cal State Long Beach restroom lends proof to the notion that allowing gender binaries is allowing violence. An assailant pushed the student into a bathroom stall and carved the word “it” onto their chest. The alleged attacker was never identified.
“In order for us to be liberated, we must realize that we are all connected,” said Castaneda, “If you have family and friends that identify with TLGBQ* struggles, than you have to realize that change needs to happen, so that they don’t have to suffer the way that you’re not suffering. We’re looking for basic human rights and I’m not going to give up until we have it.” For more information on the Trans* and Queer Equity Campaign, join the “Cal State L.A. Coalition” Facebook page.
LA ONDA: GRAVE SEQUÍA EN CALIFORNIA
PAN AFRICAN STUDIES PUTS TOGETHER A POWERFUL DISPLAY
CAL STATE L.A. CLASS CREATES STREET ART FOR CHANGE
Smoking still causing concern for students
CAL STATE L.A.'s SPORTS COVERAGE
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