Over the past summer, corporate businesses have been under fire for changing their bathroom policies to allow transgender men and women to use the bathroom based on the gender they identify as rather than the gender they are born with. Businesses, such as Starbucks and Target, have remodeled their bathrooms to make them more transgender friendly.
Recent studies have shown that 51 percent of people believe that transgender people should be able to use the bathroom of the gender they chose rather the one they were born with. Young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 are most accepting of bathroom controversy: 67 percent believe they should use the bathroom they identify as. However, six out of 10 churchgoers believe that transgender people should use the bathroom of the biological sex they were born with.
“It is so important for transgender students because it is something as simple as going to the bathroom where transgender individuals, not all of them but some, can experience on the whole spectrum of violence or microaggressions,” Sarah Carter, assistant director of intercultural education, said. “Stereotypes and assumptions can be thrown at people when somebody simply wants to go to the bathroom.”
According to ACLU, Pennsylvania does not have any laws regarding transgender men and women using public bathrooms. Therefore, transgender people could end up facing charges without the laws to protect them. New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland do have those types of laws in effect. Philadelphia has city laws prohibiting gender identity discrimination along with 200 other cities. The city of Philadelphia also has local laws requiring single-stall bathrooms to be labeled unisex.
“Cabrini University provides gender neutral bathrooms in the common areas of several residence halls,” Dean of Students George Stroud said.
According to the Transgender Students and Gender Nonconforming Students policy, students who go to school in the Philadelphia school district have access to the restroom and locker room that they identify with. If student wants a more private facilities, such as a private stall or alternative area, for any reason then they will be granted by the Philadelphia School District. This policy was placed into effect in June 2016.
“If we are not transgender we have the privilege of going to the bathroom feeling safe pretty much wherever and whenever we want,” Carter said.
A national campaign was started called I’ll Go With You so transgender or people of other gender would have a friend go to the bathroom with them to
feel safer. The website includes how to be an #IllGoWithYou buddy. It also includes what to say and how to act in case somebody is being harassed about their gender while going to the bathroom. Anybody can keep up with the I’ll Go With You campaign on their Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr pages to see what the organizers of the campaign are doing to unite the community. The creators of the campaign remain anonymous by calling themselves Creator G, Creator H, Creator J and Creator G. The four of them identify with different genders and sexual orientations. Their short autobiographies describe their backgrounds and what their jobs are for the campaign. Somebody can become an ally by reading the guidelines and taking the pledge
Carter said that the Office of Student Diversity recently “revamped their ally training” on campus. There are workshops and trainings held by student diversity “so people can learn how to be allies for the LGBT population.”
“We are in the process of developing a queer leadership program where people could have a network of LGBT alumni with our LGBT student population as well as our faculty and staff,” Carter said. Their goal is to “continue building relationships, knocking down stereotypes and promoting community and respect that are in the core values of this institution.”
