Trans and Nonbinary

Gender Housing:
Concerns, needs, and impacts

Presented by:
Maxie Holman, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Mark Wade, Bridgewater State University
Maxie Holman
Mark Wade
Resident Director
Tutor Team Coordinator
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Bridgewater State University
she/her/hers
He/him/his
Learning Outcomes:
Build a stronger understanding of non-binary gender terminology and the
difference between sex, gender, gender expression, etc.
To gain a better understanding of trans* and nonbinary gender students and
their needs, specifically in Housing/Residence Life
Explore a variety of policies and implementation techniques as well as best
practices
 Terminology
Lets get on the same page...
Biological Sex medical term referring to chromosomal, hormonal and anatomical
characteristics to classify an individual as female/male or intersex. Often referred to as
simply sex.

Commonly confused/conflated with gender

Intersex someone whose combination of biological and primary/secondary sex

characteristics differ from the male/female binary.

Formerly known as hermaphrodite (or hermaphroditic), but these terms are now considered outdated and
derogatory.
Gender Identity how individuals identify themselves in relation to societys idea of
binary gender (man/woman)

Common identity labels include man, woman, genderqueer, trans, and more.

We are born male or female [or intersex]- a classification based on biology - but we learn to be masculine and
feminine. Gender is a social, symbolic creation...and is learned by individuals (Blelberg, 2004, p.4).

Gender Expression external display of ones of dress, demeanor, social behavior, and
other factors, generally measured by masculinity and femininity.

Cisgender a person whose gender identity and biological sex assigned at birth align
(e.g., man and male-assigned).

Trans*/Transgender

(1) An umbrella term covering a range of identities that transgress socially defined gender norms

(2) A person who lives as a member of a gender other than that expected based on sex.
Genderqueer - a gender identity label used by people who do not identify with the binary
of man/woman; or as an umbrella term for many gender non-conforming or non-binary
identities (e.g., agender, bigender, genderfluid, pangender, genderless, third gender,
other gender).

Gender Non-Conforming (GNC) - someone whose gender expression, whether by

nature or by choice, does not align in a predicted fashion with gender-based
expectations.

Gender Binary the idea that there are only two genders man/woman and that a
person must be strictly gendered as either/or..

FtM / F2M; MtF / M2F abbreviation for female-to-male transgender or transsexual

person; abbreviation for male-to-female transgender or transsexual person.

The use of these abbreviations are becoming less common as it focuses on the persons past and not who they are
currently
Gender and
Sexuality
Theres A
Difference
 Man-ness
Woman-ness

Gender Identity
Masculinity
Femininity

Sexuality
Male-ness
Female-ness

Gender Expression
Biological Sex
Man/masc/male
Woman/fem/female

Man/masc/male
Woman/fem/female
How does
understanding
this population
relate to housing?
Currently...
Many colleges house students based on their biological sex listed on their
admissions paperwork.

This practice is done for most schools incoming first year students

Many continue this process for their upper-class students

Some Colleges offer its upper-class students the ability to opt-in to coed
apartment/suite style housing.
Comprised of multiple single, double, or triple rooms, shared by students of differing genders.

While the overall apartment may be comprised of different genders, the bedrooms remain single
sex based on the students biological sex.
 This has presented challenges for members of our community whose biological
sex is either in conflict with their gender identity or gender expression or for those
who are in the process of transitioning from one gender to another. Current
practice at many institutions for these students is to offer an
accommodation of a single bedroom within an opt-in LGBTA friendly
apartment/coed apartment (identified during the housing application process).
While this may solve part of the problem, it does not allow students to explore
their gender identity or gender expression in a way that is inclusive.
 Current policies on many campuses are neglecting
the needs of students who identify as transgender
by labeling them as a biological male or female.
Transgender students may or may not identify with
their biological sex, and university residence halls
have an educational and developmental obligation
to offer them housing based on the sex with
which they identify, regardless of their biological sex
or socially constructed gender type. If campuses are
to fully incorporate multicultural awareness into our
residence halls, they must respect the rights of all
students. Changing campus policies to accommodate
for the needs and rights of LGBT students is a
necessary means to assuring safety and support in
students' living environment

(Blelberg, 2004, p.6).

What are our In gender-neutral housing, room

options? assignments are made without

regard to the individual's biological
gender, so residents may request a
Gender Inclusive Housing
roommate of any gender (Beemyn, 2005, p.54).
Why Consider Gender Inclusive Housing...
All students should be comfortable in their
rooming situations.
Housing options for all students who may
identify as transgender
or are questioning their gender identity
or do not wish to prescribe to gender
classifications.
Implementing a policy allowing gender-
inclusive rooming as a campus-wide
option would allow students to make
decisions on the basis of what they prefer
and are most comfortable with.
Decreases heteronormative assumptions
regarding housing assignments.
Students who are uncomfortable with a same-
sex roommate or do not wish to have a
same-sex roommate also have more
housing options to choose from.
Mixed-sex room assignments are the next
step in the progression of inclusive
policies at colleges and universities.
Having coeducational residence halls was
once thought to reflect a liberal
perspective, but coeducational rooms will
eventually be the norm (Blelberg, 2004, p.8).
Exploring inclusive
policies/processes
Housing & Reslife Departments
Provide any student interested in gender neutral housing to opt-in
students would need to identify who they would like to live with

Departments should not actively seek out the reasons individuals would like to
live together

though intimate partners would be discouraged from living with one another.

Some schools may require students interested in Gender Inclusive Housing to

Submit a personal statement with housing application (new and returning)

Participate in a conversation with an administrator in the housing and residence life office to
verify that the student understands what GIH is (new)
Housing Application Forms
Housing departments should review their application
materials and evaluate if all questions are necessary
and inclusive to all students

An important part of the process is ensuring that a

transgender student has the ability to disclose their
gender identity to the housing office as early as
possible, to facilitate planning and an appropriate
housing assignment (Schnetzler, 2009, p.1).
Best practice is for the form to be universal and not require that the trans student have
to take any extra steps or complete follow up process.
Housing Applications continued
Transgender students may feel violated when they are forced to label
themselves as male or female on a housing application form (Blelberg, 2004, p.6).
Be sure there are options that include trans and nonbinary options such as:

Transgender man/ Transgender male

Transgender women/ Transgender female

Gender queer / Gender nonconforming

Preferred gender identity(please specify if different from above)

More appropriate alternatives to binary boxes are simple fill-in-the-blank

options, Your gender is: ________, or the multiple choices of Male,
Female, Self-Identify: _______ (Beemyn, 2005, p.52).
Prefered Name and Pronouns
Suggestions for campuses include not only providing a wider range of sex or gender
options on campus forms, but also to allow individuals to change their name and/
or gender on records without having had a legal name/gender change.

This process should be simple, a one-stop method to initiate name/gender

change requests across all of campus (Seelman, 2014).
Being able to change ones name and/or gender marker on campus records is a key
process for some trans individuals, particularly those who are transitioning, that
helps to make their campus experiences more affirming (Seelman, 2014, p.626).
Bathrooms and Gender Specific Spaces
On most campuses there is a need to improve buildings to make them more
inclusive (e.g. bathroom facilities).
Suggestions included having some facilities on campus that are gender
inclusive (aka gender neutral) welcoming to people of any gender and/or
single occupancy as a way to avoid the frustration, stress, and risks of
harassment that trans people can face when using spaces that are women-
only or men-only (Seelman, 2014, p.629).
Some of these changes can be made with simple sign
changes of single stall bathrooms indicating that the
space is available to all genders
It is relatively inexpensive (Seelman, 2014, p.629).
Within Residence Life and Housing
Campuses should assess their housing facilities

Are rooms co-ed or same-sex by suite, hallway, floor, or building? A transgender students ability
to pass may be more difficult in a same-sex living environment, where residents are
expected to conform to a particular set of gender expressions (Beemyn, 2005, p.53).

Many campus residence halls were built at a time when hallways, floors, or buildings were divided by
gender and offered only communal mens and womens restrooms and shower rooms (Beemyn, 2005, p.53).

Traditional/Communal Residence Halls

Note whether the buildings have any gender-neutral restrooms available

Are there shower facilities with lockable stalls, rather than just shower curtains (Beemyn, 2005, p.53).

Some campuses will need to consider if updates to the spaces are possible to make them more
inclusive for all genders and what these updates will cost.
GLBTQIA Lifestyle Housing
Not always a safe or preferred setting for trans-individuals who do not wish to have
their identity disclosed to others.
transgender students do not always have the same needs as LGBQ people on
a campus (Seelman, 2014, p.630).

Other transgender students may gain acceptance and feel a part of these
communities.
When Considering Placement
Be sure to examine cost differences between residence halls to determine whether
transgender students are forced to incur a greater financial burden in order to live
in a safer environment (Beemyn, 2005, p.53).
What to do in the event of a vacancy.
Should there be a vacancy, students will be asked to identify a new roommate
within a designated time set by the department.
If the student is unable to find a replacement, the department would fill the space
with a student in need of housing while being sensitive to the preferences of
the individuals involved.
Staff Training topics
Diversity training that incorporates concepts of gender diversity and respect for
gender identity
As with other institutional values, respect for gender identity and diversity begins at the top.
Administrators, faculty members, and campus health-care providers should all be familiar with
the rights and needs of this community (Schnetzler, 2009, p.1).
Because transgender students have unique concerns that are often poorly understood by housing
staff, regular training workshops for professionals and paraprofessionals in residence life are
essential for meeting the needs of transgender students. (Beemyn, 2005, p.54).

Staff trainings on your campuses policies are important to be sure all staff are
comfortable with what is offered and how the policy is implemented (Schnetzler, 2009, p.1).
What are your campuses policies?
Challenges?

Successes?

Procedures?
 213 schools have developed
Campus gender inclusive housing policies
and more are implementing
Examples policies every year.

What are your institutions doing?

A few schools and their housing
policies/ adjustments What needs to be adjust/
improved?

Colleges and Universities that Provide Gender-Inclusive Housing. (n.d.). Retrieved

June 25, 2017, from https://www.campuspride.org/tpc/gender-inclusive-housing/

Clark University
(MA)
The new policies are touted as
a way to make
transgender, gay, and
lesbian students more
comfortable on campus,
and to fight a hetero-
normative mindset in
housing policies
Both students must request
the assignment, and
measures are in place to
University of Minnesota
(MN)
Transgender students often live
in apartment style housing
with a private bedroom and
bathroom while sharing
living space with students
of the gender with which
they identify.
If this student wishes to live in
traditional housing with a
roommate of the gender
with which they identify,
Massachusetts
College of Art and
Design
(MA)
The school now allows
students to use a preferred
name on their ID and
diploma. There are 29
gender-neutral bathrooms
on campus, and students
may room with people
based on their gender
identity, not the sex they
were assigned at birth.
(Krantz, 2017, p.5)

ensure no one is administration interviews

accidentally assigned to a both students and then
mixed room (McClure, 2007, p.13). considers granting the
request (Blelberg, 2004, p.7).
Northeastern Swarthmore College University of Southern Maine
(MA) (PA) (ME)

Students can now choose to
live with someone of the
opposite gender through
the normal room-selection
process.
Rooms are open to all
students, regardless of
sexual orientation or
gender identity.
Has had low numbers of
About 35 students on the Gorham and
Portland campuses have signed up
for housing in which members of
the opposite sex can live together
and share a private bathroom (Mary
Beth, n.d., p.1).

First-year students, however, problems with romantic

must contact the housing
office to request gender-
neutral housing
(Tilsley, 2010, p.1).
partners living together
Often the coeducational
roommates perceive each
other more as brother and
sister than as potential love
interests (Blelberg, 2004, p.7).
Oberlin College
(OH)
Designated a communal bathroom as
open to any resident in halls with at
least three communal facilities (Mary
Beth, n.d., p.1).
University of Vermont
Allowing students to choose how theyre identified in the student information system (SIS) was the next step. Officials
were on board, but no third-party SIS company was willing to make the change (Williams, 2015, p.15).

So the university created their own system. It took six months > $80,000 to create the patch.

Since Spring 2009, students have been able to select a preferred gender pronoun or be referred to by name only.
Options are he, she, they or the gender neutral term, zeor even a preferred non-legal name. Students can
update this information themselves online as they wish. Class rosters include this information so faculty can
confidently identify students (Williams, 2015, p.15).

The university software patch puts students' preferred names and pronouns on class rosters and identification
cards but retains their legal names on financial-aid and medical forms. Previously, students who wanted to be
called by names different from their legal ones had to approach the registrar or their professors and explain.
Essentially, they were forced to out themselves as transgender (Tilsley, 2010, p.1).

The school is working to make the software code available to other colleges that use the same software,
SunGard's Banner system. They are working on standardizing the preferred-name option, and looking into
distributing the code to interested colleges at no charge (Tilsley, 2010, p.1).

Already more than 700 students have taken advantage of the new capability. Though most just use it to list a nickname,
such as Bob instead of Robert, (Tilsley, 2010, p.1).
Moving Forward (Nicolazzo, 2017)
1. Moving beyond best practices

2. Recognizing how gender mediates everyones life

3. Embracing a trickle-up approach to diversity

4. Reconceptualizing college environments

5. Recommitting to intersectional praxis

6. Developing an epistemology of love

Questions?
REFERENCES
Beemyn, B., Curtis, B., Davis, M., & Tubbs, N. J. (2005). Transgender issues on college campuses. New Directions For Student Services, 2005(111), 49-60.

Bleiberg, S. (2004). A Case for Mixed-Sex University Housing Policies. Journal Of College & University Student Housing, 33(1), 3-9.

Colleges and Universities that Provide Gender-Inclusive Housing. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2017, from https://www.campuspride.org/tpc/gender-inclusive-housing/

Krantz, L. (2017, August 30). Transgender students push change on college campuses. The Boston Globe.

Leo, A. (1970, January 01). 7EVEN PRODUCTIONS. Retrieved June 25, 2017, from http://7evenproductions.blogspot.com/2016/10/non-binary.html

Mary Beth, M. (n.d). Gender-neutral comes to campus. USA Today.

McClure, A. (2007). Extreme Co-Ed Housing. University Business, 10(2), 13.

Nicolazzo, Z. (2017). Trans* in college: Transgender students strategies for navigating campus life and the institutional politics of inclusion. Sterling, VA: Stylus
Publishing, LLC.

Schnetzler, G. W., & Conant, G. K. (2009, October 16). Changing Genders, Changing Policies. Chronicle of Higher Education. pp. B30-B32.

Seelman, K. L. (2014). Recommendations of transgender students, staff, and faculty in the USA for improving college campuses. Gender & Education, 26(6).

The Safe Zone Project [The Safe Zone Project]. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2017, from http://www.thesafezoneproject.com/

Tilsley, A. (2010, July 2). New Policies Accommodate Transgender Students. Chronicle of Higher Education. pp. A19-A20.

Williams, L. (2015). National spotlight on campus gender accommodations. University Business, 18(4), 15.