As someone who is in the GLBT community and has been active in OUT GLBT Student Union throughout my college career, one of the issues I advocate the most is the inclusion of transgender people, issues and stories into the GLBT community. This has been a much lengthier battle than most would realize, because there are very few people who are properly educated on the transgender community. Such people include Dave Dawson, who last week wrote a letter to the editor against gender-neutral bathrooms (“Gender-neutral bathrooms serve little purpose,” Jordan River Forum, Feb. 15).\nDawson writes that “if you have a penis, you are male; if you have a vagina, you are female.” If this were true then he would be correct; there is no need for gender-neutral bathrooms. Unfortunately, a rapidly growing community in the United States proves that this isn’t true, and Dawson’s shallow view of gender is a perfect example of how necessary it is to implement gender-neutral bathrooms. Nearly every transsexual or transgender person I know cites his or her most frightening moment as deciding which bathroom to go into. The transgender community has to worry about violence and harassment every day, and for Dawson to assume that no violent action would occur in Bloomington if a transgender person enters a bathroom is just plain unfair. The implementation of gender-neutral bathrooms also sparks interest and education in the subject of gender identity, and this is desperately needed in the United States. The fact that our generation is learning to see beyond the physical aspect of gender gives me hope that the transgender community will someday have the rights they deserve.\nI know that it seems odd to consider the idea that gender-separated bathrooms are discriminatory, but they truly are. Dawson claims that “some things just are the way they are,” but countless individuals who are questioning their genders prove the absurdity of his claim. The number of students coming out as transgender is increasing every day, and if IU wants to be the diverse campus it claims to be then, it needs to act fast in implementing facilities that support equality for gender identity. I applaud the University’s efforts thus far, and through proper education and willingness to be open to new ideas, the IU community at large will follow in their support.
Kim Ruggles\nStudent
