Universities across the nation are moving toward fostering gender identity and expression by amending their discrimination policies and adding gender-neutral bathrooms and housing, according to a new report.
Sponsored by the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, the study found that 147 colleges and universities have added gender identity and expression to their non-discrimination policies, 141 have created some gender-neutral bathrooms and 30 have created options for gender-neutral housing.
Penn State has added gender identity and expression to its non-discrimination policy and has created gender-neutral bathrooms but not gender-neutral housing, according to the report.
Lynn Dubois, associate director of housing, said the lack of gender-neutral housing at Penn State has not been an issue.
"I haven't had any requests for it," she said. "Typically, if a student would come to me and request that type of housing, we would work with Residence Life to make sure the student had the various housing options they thought they needed."
Dubois said housing in Eastview Terrace, which features single rooms with private bathrooms, is an option for students requesting gender-neutral housing.
While the movement to add gender-neutral housing and bathrooms is still relatively small, it is growing, especially in the Northeast and among elite colleges, the report shows.
Among the colleges that have amended anti-bias policies, for example, 43 percent are in the Northeast, while 5 percent are from the South. Two-thirds of a list of the top 25 colleges have amended their policies, including all eight Ivy League schools.
Allison Subasic, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally (LGBTA) student resource center on campus, said she thinks Penn State is covered on all three of the elements reported in the study.
"At this point, we have accommodated every student that is gender neutral [for housing]," she said. "Every school seems to do it a little bit differently, and we do it on a case-by-case basis."
Penn State amended its Statement on Nondiscrimination and Harassment in 2006 to include gender identity, the report shows. The policy was amended the same year that Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia universities and Dartmouth College changed theirs, according to the report.
The university also has several gender-neutral bathrooms. Gender-neutral bathrooms are defined as restrooms that may be used by a person of any gender or sex. The restrooms are typically single stall and lockable, according to the report.
A list of Penn State's gender-neutral bathrooms can be found on the LGBTA Web site, Subasic said.
"Most major buildings have at least one," she said.
Subasic said she thinks Penn State is ranked "towards the top" in inclusiveness of transgendered students. The LGBTA Student Resource Center, the Office of Affirmative Action and Diversity and the Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equity hold educational workshops to bring attention to the problems transgendered students face, she said.
"We're progressive in some ways, but we can still work on a few things," she said.
