If you are a transsexual, do college dorms have to accomodate you?

Question

This doesn't apply to me, because I'm over the age of 21 and can live off campus, but the college campus policy says if you are under 21 and have completed fewer than I think 30 hours, you are required to live on campus in the dorms, your first 2 years. But...what if you are transsexual? Do they have to accomodate you if this is the college policy that you HAVE to live in the dorms?

Answer 1

Each college has their own policies (and things are changing daily) regarding housing for transgendered students, one particular campus dealt with it by putting 2 transsexuals together as roommates. Another option taken by one school was to offer gender-neutral housing. Many schools however, simply deal with it on a case-by-case basis. "Today, more than 100 U.S. college campuses have professionally staffed offices or centers that handle gay and transgender issues, according to the National Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resources in Higher Education...[and] it's growing fast." See the links below for how some campuses have been dealing with this.

I've also included a link to a publication for activists and policymakers for those out there trying to fight the battle for transgender equality, not only in college dorms but also other places such as juvenile facilities and jails. I have heard of horrifying experiences there also.

Additionally for those of you not familiar with this situation, I have included a link from the Task Force which offers a more in-depth look at campus climate for GLBT people.

Answer 2

I don't think that there's ever been a case that was brought to court about this, which means there's no rule either way. Many schools will try to give students a single room if they have a medical reason, and I suspect they would include transexuality in that catagory for housing purposes. They would also probably be quite willing to make an exception to their policy and let the student live off campus if he/she wanted as it would get them off the hook, but not everyone wants to live off campus.

When you fill out forms to live on campus, they have you check a box to indicate your gender, and assign you a room and a roommate based on that. They don't check your medical records, so they wouldn't know your genetic or biological gender when they assign rooms, just what you self-identified as. I think that most transexual students would probably include a note in their housing materials since it might be a bit awkward for a potential roommate, and if they didn't in many cases their roommate either won't know or will be ok with it. But it's probably only a matter of time before someone sues the school for assigning them a roommate whose biological gender is opposite to theirs. If/when that happens we'll find out if schools have to accomodate transexual students on campus. It'll probably come down to whether the judge who hears the first case on it is a moron who thinks people "choose" to be transsexual (never mind that there is considerable scientific evidence that indicates that there are sexual dimorphisms in brain structure and transexual individuals typically show the neurological features typical of the gender with which they identify rather then their genetic gender).

There was someone in my dorm last year who was transexual, and it wasn't a problem at all since our dorms are mostly single rooms anyway (we don't even have enough doubles for all the freshmen let alone upper classman), and we have co-ed bathrooms. Plus it's a really liberal school so people tend to be pretty ok with it. But I had a friend in high school who was transsexual, and even though the school was basically supportive of her there were still issues like they weren't really ok with letting her use the girls bathroom, and she couldn't share a room with people on a school trip or stuff. So ideally it shouldn't be a problem at all, but sooner or later someone is going to have a problem with it.

Answer 3

For my brother's housing application (dorms) they gave the options for gender as: Male, Female, or "Other" indicating they had some kind of set-up for accommodating those who didn't identify themselves as either male or female.

But the two schools I went to had mandatory dorm policies and didn't offer a "transexual" or "other" option for sex.

I think it depends a lot on your school but ultimately if the school says you HAVE to live in the dorms they have to find a way to accommodate you. They'd probably just give you a single room...

Answer 4

Never thought about that before. I live in an apartment at college.

Answer 5

If you made a big deal about it, they would probably put you in a private room inside co-ed dorms.

Answer 6

No - because transexuals are not a legally protected class. However, the college can choose to do so if it wants to. I hope that helps you out with your question.

Good Luck!!!

Answer 7

Transexual means you changed your sex. Pick the door with the dress if you changed into a girl, or pick the door with the person wearing pants if you changed into a boy.

If you are transgendered, and have both sexes...then you need to pick the dorm you most identify with. Other than that, if you can't figure it out, how is the college supposed to?

Answer 8

You would be placed under the sex that you have on your birthcertificate. They will place you with the sex that you were born with, not the sex you are becoming.