What colleges discriminate against Transgender applicants?

College Search & Selection
41

Thanks for that link, @marvin100! And for the OP, it seems even the [url=<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/education/edlife/how-georgetown-became-a-gay-friendly-campus.html?_r=0%5DNYTimes%5B/url”>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/education/edlife/how-georgetown-became-a-gay-friendly-campus.html?_r=0]NYTimes[/url] has noticed…

And- (wishing I had thought of it first), Marvin’s post has another important element: there are similar organizations at just about every college: seek them out & ask them how they have found the college to deal with in practice- there are colleges that are both more and less welcoming - to many kinds of students- than their publicly released material might suggest.

In the meantime, I’m sticking by my main point, which is that rather than trying to identify colleges that ‘discriminate’ or where you might have trouble with admin attitudes, look for places that are trying to make all their students feel welcome- and where you feel welcome.

42

Unless the OP has had her sex changed, let’s hypothesize that she enters a ladies room in an off-campus bar in Durham, NC and an anatomical female freaks out and tells her boyfriend, who then confronts OP. OP and the bf get into an altercation and both sustain injuries. OP brings charges against bf for assault and battery, and bf does the same, then sues OP, who has insurance through university. Insurance company discovers that OP listed herself as female on college app and insurance policy and disclaims coverage based on fraud, misrepresentation and jurisdiction that does not recognize transgender as protected class. OP now must either hire counsel and sue insurance company or lose insurance coverage. Either way she’s at risk of losing a defense and coverage. In addition, female whose bf is suing also lodges complaint against OP at university, where she is also enrolled, claiming her rights of privacy were violated based on OP observing her unclothed in the ladies room, and also that she has sustained extreme emotional distress because she’s never seen a transgender person in a ladies room. University investigates and discovers the checked box of OP’s application and must now choose between two conflicting university policies of protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation and invasion of privacy. OP now faces expulsion and must hire lawyer to argue that despite being anatomically male with published birth certificate, she has other legal papers proving her female sexuality. OP must now endure the publicity of lawsuit and university disciplinary proceedings.

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SeattleTW,
Women don’t spy on each other in the restroom. The OP would use a stall like all the other women.

Beside, what grounds would the insurance company or anyone else have to sue her for fraud? She’s legally female.

44

^^ I don’t know about ladies’ rooms where you live, but here in NC any action in the ladies’ room that involves private parts takes place behind closed doors. Unless you’re peeping under stalls, how are you going to know?

Before following any of SeattleTW’s advice, I would suggest finding out what state law is - I’m not sure I’m buying these scenarios. Certainly these were not issues when one of my co-workers here in NC transitioned (which included one year of living at the gender that was in conflict with her then-biology).

45

Insurance companies pay for and provide legal defense for lawsuits brought against their policy holders. If she identified herself as female, her insurance company could disclaim coverage and not protect her, based on misrepresentation, that’s the risk here.

46

And wouldn’t someone who is visibly female (regardless of genitalia) walking into a men’s room (where private functions DO take place in view of others) cause even more of a problem than someone who is visibly female walking into a women’s restroom?

47

@SeattleTW Why does this always have to come to the bathroom with you people? Seriously, bathrooms have stalls; you’re not going to see a female naked in the ladies room. Transgender students just have to pee, same as the rest of us. I really don’t get the point of your hypothetical. You make too many assumptions. You have no idea how the OP presents and appears. This has nothing to do with gender reassignment surgery; that really is the last and optional step in transitioning. I don’t get your obsession with the “parts”; legally, that does not define your gender. This is not just with transgender individuals; there are other situations as well where this applies, particularly with intersex individuals, trauma at birth, and some genetic conditions (such as AIS). And again, being transgender is not a sexual orientation, nor is it a lifestyle choice; it is a gender identity. You seem to be confusing gender, sex, and sexuality; those are three distinct things that are not linked to each other.

Also how are you going to tell what parts someone has? I can give you numerous examples of individuals whose biological sex and gender are not the same (not just transgender individuals; intersex and AIS individuals as well) who unless you were told, you would not be able to tell that that was the case. Some of them have had GRS, some have not; that is another thing you cannot tell.

48

It’s important to realize that, in most cases, even when gender reassignment surgery IS the goal, the trans individual is required to live for 12 months as the gender with which they identify before doctors will perform the surgery (often they are undergoing hormonal treatments during this time). That includes using the restroom proper for their identity and outward appearance.

I’m with @guineagirl96 - I don’t understand the obsession with what others are doing in the restroom. Me, I go in, use the doored stall to do my business, wash my hands and leave. I don’t go around checking people’s private parts.

49

One important missing piece in my hypo is alcohol. Assuming OP, other female and bf are drinking, what I have described is quite plausible.

50

@SeattleTW - can you point to case law supporting your arguments? Especially in the light of changing legal protections for LGBT individuals, it would need to be recent case law. If this is an individual in the process of transitioning, her insurance company is most likely aware she is receiving hormonal treatments to correct gender dysphoria, so it would be a bit disingenuous of them to claim misrepresentation. Even if not, there’s probably some type of medical professional who can support the gender claims.

So just where do you suggest people who are hermaphrodites pee?

51

@InigoMontoya Exactly my point above! Intersex individuals (the correct term; hermaphrodite is considered a derogatory term) present as whichever gender they identify as. You truly can’t tell often if an individual is intersex. Buzzfeed actually has an excellent video on intersex individuals (some of them I believe have AIS).

52

We live in an imperfect world, to be sure. Insurance companies live to deny coverage when claims are involved. Most renters and car insurance provide basic liability insurance that would protect against third party claims. That’s what I’m talking about. If, as a condition to living in student housing, OP buys a property insurance policy with liability coverage, she risks losing coverage if she misrepresents herself. Because insurance is with a private company, she must check with the insurance company or its broker to make sure she meets its application requirements. And anti-discrimination laws are all over the map and vary by state and municipality.

53

SeattleTW,
Not meaning to be harsh here but you seem to be unclear as to what “transgender” means. The OP is not a transvestite, nor is she even someone who simply “feels” female. She has gone through the process of having her legal gender changed. She is not misrepresenting herself as female. She is legally a woman. The OP’s question here was whether a college could be particularly picky about disclosing the gender she was assigned at birth, I would imagine in part because some of her older records might be in her old male name or because she might later ask for preferential housing. She is not asking our permission to use the lady’s room, nor to live her life as a woman.

The only reason I’m not asking for this thread to be closed is that I’m still hoping a TG recent college applicant will have experience or information to share with the OP.

(edit for typo)

54

I know what it means, but it’s very complicated because her post birth certificate documents are at odds with her anatomy. That’s the practical issue and transgender use of ladies’ rooms is a timely and open debate, even on the internet.

http://kdvr.com/2013/10/18/another-southern-colo-transgender-student-denied-access-to-girls-restroom/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/07/living/feat-planet-fitness-transgender-member/

55

It’s not complicated; she’s a woman. People need to butt out of other people’s business. It really shouldn’t be an open debate because their need to pee literally doesn’t affect anyone else.

Besides, that has nothing to do with her college application.

@skieurope I think this thread needs to be closed. OP got her answer. If a TG individual can give her more advice, perhaps they should PM her so that she can avoid people like you @SeattleTW . She didn’t ask for your judgment on what her rights are and aren’t; she asked a question about applying to colleges and what schools would be welcoming to her.

56

So the OP is going to take their original not corrected birth certificate into the ladies room and show it off?

When my son had long hair, there were guys who would walk out of the mens room and say “I thought I was in the wrong restroom!” when they saw him. And we corrected them and told them, “no, he is a boy with long hair. It happens.”

Let alone some very dodgy looking females, even some who stand up to pee (possible with original female equipment but tends to be messy).

I have had no problem in the past with using a mens room when it was a true emergency. The world did not come to an end, nor was I arrested. I might have even seen a dinkle or two by accident.

I do not understand what college would ask for paperwork early enough to identify the student’s gender differently.

Just look up LGBTQA threads on CC that discuss friendly colleges, and go by that. Or don’t.

If you think that being transgender is some kind of secret to keep from the world, you have that right. But don’t talk about it on your college application and in your essay then. And don’t talk about it among your dorm mates.

If you believe you are female and were born female no matter chromosomes or appearance before you “officially” changed, there is NO reason to tell anyone except a significant other of the male gender only AFTER you get to the point of discussing having children, and generally saying “I’m infertile” can be more than enough. Although, if you don’t take birth control or ask him to use it, and you don’t get a period (perk of changing to female), a guy might find out.

Live out or live without honesty. I am sure that you will find bigots everywhere, and you will find amazingly compassionate people everywhere, and you’ll find many more people who don’t give a crap other than for their own “hmm, I couldn’t tell” or “hmm, I was wondering”. Like if someone was born a brunette and dyed their hair.

I have to say the title of this thread is rather discriminatory - it’s like you want a 60 minutes expose on the subject to “out” intolerant colleges. And that my friend is not productive. Find and embrace friends, don’t search out enemies. I can tell you that there are more than a few colleges that preach high levels of tolerance.

57

This “hypothetical” derail is sheer BS and unequivocally unhelpful to the OP. Get your "what if"s out of here.

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MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Closing. The topic has been exhausted and the OP is exhausting.