Gender Blind

Indiana University is slipping in it’s standing as one of the most LGBT-Friendly Colleges in the United States.

This isn’t the student’s fault. The school administration needs to make some long overdo changes.

Campus Pride, a nonprofit organization, ranks universities on a national-scale using the Campus Pride Index. The Campus Pride Index ranks schools according to how accepting their policies, housing and support systems are.

Indiana University was previously ranked in the top 25 schools in the nation for Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered Students. It isn’t anymore.

Ethan Jackson, an IU junior and RA in Eigenmann Residence Center, is a transgendered student who’s been suffering from anxiety due to IU’s ignorance regarding policy. And he’s happy that IU is no longer at the top of the national ranking by Campus Pride.

When students register with the Office of the Bursar, they have the option to list their “preferred name,” as well as their legal name. However, the registrar is one of the only parts of IU to do so.

Other departments, such as the Health Center and Parking Operations, use the student’s legal name when filling out paperwork.

The Editorial Board feels it’s inept of the IU Administration to have such a lack of consistency in their operations.

For example, Indiana University requires that, when you register, you must indicate whether you’re male or female. If you don’t fit into the gender binary, you’re forced to make a decision that you may not feel comfortable making.

However, when you apply for housing, you can indicate you’re transgendered. Everywhere else on campus requires you to choose between male and female.
How hard could it be for the University to include an additional option? Or maybe ask another question or two when filling out paperwork?

It seems to be exorbitantly difficult for all of IU to even ask the same question the Bursar asks: What is your preferred name?

It actually wouldn’t be very hard at all. A proposal to fix these problems was recently suggested to the Bloomington Faculty Council.

Jackson said one of the problems was that he would go into class or an office and not know what name he would be called by. And it’s a significant, personal problem that could be fixed by simply adding another question or two to paperwork.

The student-led Residence Halls Association General Assembly has already taken a proposal to RPS to get gender-blind housing in dorms on campus. And most dorms currently have gender-neutral bathrooms or pods.

However, the Editorial Board feels IU has ignored the requests of students like Ethan Jackson, who’ve been advocating for change for years.

And yet, even as IU redesigns paperwork and processes, the requests of transgendered students are ignored.

Maybe it’s a good thing IU isn’t ranked well for LGBT students. The fact that the administration has the ability to resolve these issues and continues to not do so is truly disappointing.

It’s time students like Ethan are given the rights we all take for granted.
It’s time for a change.

­— opinion@idsnews.com
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