BU offers legal sex update option for students

The University will provide the option of choosing “X” as a gender identification.

Students will be met with a new gender identification option this semester.

Last June, New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the legal implementation of a SUNY Board of Trustees mandate, requiring all 64 SUNY campuses to update their policies on the use of chosen names, pronouns and gender identity by fall 2023. Under the “chosen name and pronoun” policy, all operational systems of SUNY campuses must reflect a student’s chosen name and pronouns. Under the mandate’s “gender X” policy, when collecting sex or gender data, SUNY universities must provide individuals with the option of choosing “X” as a gender, in addition to “M” for male and “F” for female.

Currently, Binghamton University students are already able to officially change their legal name and sex in student information systems by submitting an online form with legal documentation. By the end of this year, however, students who wish to update their legal sex will also have the option of choosing “X”, in addition to the currently offered options “M” and “F” — according to Anne Guanciale, director of intercultural affairs for the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Guanciale explained that the legal sex change mandate dismantles a traditional gender binary system on BU’s campus.

“Offering and expanding these options in campus data systems acknowledges that traditional binary categories for gender are insufficient,” Guanciale wrote in an email. “Gender is more of a spectrum. Having students’ identities accurately reflected in campus data systems is affirming and enhances a sense of belonging.”

While a chosen name and pronoun resolution had already been approved and issued by the SUNY Board of Trustees earlier this year, Hochul’s announcement defines the policy as New York State legislation, requiring SUNY universities to follow the mandate.

Along with the inclusion of “X” as a gender option, the University will continue expanding its legal sex fields by implementing gender identity and pronouns as two new fields, Guanciale explained. Students will be able to choose from multiple options within each field, with the choice to update being “completely optional.”

A Gender X and Pronouns and Implementation Committee was formed by the University, where members of faculty met to ensure that all systems on campus that require a legal sex field are considered in the policy. Dara Silberstein, associate research professor of women, gender and sexuality Studies, and a member of the committee, credits her “longstanding scholarship in and advocacy of feminist and queer legal rights” for her invitation to join.

Silberstein believes the policy will challenge the campus community’s contemporary understandings of gender and sexual identities.

“The implementation of this policy will normalize that gender can be fluid and should not be tied to biological determinist understandings of ‘sex,’” Silberstein wrote in an email. “My hope is that organizations/departments that are tied to traditional gender norms will be viewed as outliers. For instance, I hope that single sex social fraternities and sororities will open their memberships to gender fluid and transgender identified students.”

Instructions on how to update both fields on the BU Registrar’s website will be available in the fall of 2023, according to a Dateline Announcement.

Nick Martin, assistant director of the Q Center on campus, is another member of the committee. Martin said the Q Center is eager to support the mandate, along with their continual advocacy for tangible visibility and inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community on campus.

“We are pleased that the leadership of the SUNY System recognizes that gender identity beyond the binary and pronouns are important to our students, faculty and staff and have created a policy that will allow us to make significant progress toward an even more inclusive campus,” Martin wrote. “The Q Center team looks forward to connecting with faculty, staff and students in the coming months to ensure the intended outcomes of this mandate are met.”

Many students at BU expressed support for the mandate and its potential influence on the campus community.

Jesse La Scala, a sophomore double-majoring in English and environmental studies and a member of the Q Center staff, said the policy will help generate a sense of belonging for transgender,