From a procedural perspective, trans, or transgender, college students have never been more included. Many campuses have enacted supportive policies for trans students in housing, health care, locker room and bathroom access, administrative records, and other areas. Moreover, Title IX is now being interpreted by the U.S. Department of Education as requiring institutions to prevent discrimination against trans students and to respect their gender identities. But official policies can address only some of the challenges these students face, and some of the policy changes fall short of helping those who do not identify as either female or male — nonbinary trans students.
I helped begin the trans policy movement, albeit inadvertently. In 1996, as a graduate student at the University of Iowa, I worked with a faculty member, Mickey Eliason, to add “gender identity” to the university’s nondiscrimination statement. We did not know it at the time, but Iowa was the first college in the country to have a trans-inclusive nondiscrimination policy, and probably the first college to have any kind of formal policy that covered trans people.
Close to a thousand colleges, as I document for Campus Pride as the group’s Trans Policy Clearinghouse coordinator, now include “gender identity” in their nondiscrimination policies. In addition, nearly 200 offer gender-inclusive housing (meaning students are able to have a roommate of any gender). A lesser but growing number are enabling students to use their chosen first name (rather than their legal name) and their gender identity on campus records; are covering most of the cost of transitioning, including surgery, under student health insurance; and are asking for “gender identity” on admissions forms.
I have observed that on most campuses, the majority of trans students identify as nonbinary, and these policy changes, while important, are not always the ones such students need most. This year I completed the first national study of nonbinary trans college students, interviewing 111 students from 62 colleges. All but one of the students felt that their colleges were not doing enough to support them, even though some of the institutions are considered to be among the most “trans-friendly” in the country. The students’ most pressing concerns included being regularly misgendered in class, on official documents, and by other students; the absence of safe and comfortable bathrooms; the inadequacy of housing options; the need for gender-identity choices on campus records beyond “male” and “female”; and a general lack of awareness about their lives.
Most of the study participants wanted to be referred to by gender-inclusive pronouns, typically “they/them/their.” But faculty and staff members, along with other students, operating on commonly held assumptions about gender identity, deemed them to be female or male. They used the pronouns commonly associated with that gender, rather than asking students how they want to be referred to.
Almost all of the participants said they were not asked about pronoun usage by any of their professors, including those in women’s-studies and gender-studies courses. As a result, the students frequently struggled with whether they should initiate conversations about their pronouns or continue to endure being misgendered. Most did not feel comfortable approaching their professors. Colleges should address this dilemma by including students’ pronouns on course rosters, but only a few institutions do so.
Similarly, few colleges have created a significant number of gender-inclusive bathrooms (meaning they are available to people of all genders), and where such facilities exist, they are not always well marked or convenient. This was the problem most commonly cited by the study participants. Many students were able to tell me the exact location of all gender-inclusive bathrooms on their campus because those were the only bathrooms they felt safe and comfortable using. Some made sure to use the bathroom before they left for classes, and planned their day so they could return home in time to avoid having to use gendered facilities.
Colleges have to stop placing nonbinary trans students in a position of having to choose between possible harassment and violence in gendered bathrooms, or daily anxiety about finding inclusive facilities. Institutions can, and should, immediately create gender-inclusive bathrooms by changing restroom signage and, where needed, installing locks. For the future, they must commit to having gender-inclusive bathrooms whenever buildings are constructed or renovated.
Many of the students surveyed also stated that they wished their colleges made gender-inclusive housing available. While some of their colleges did offer such housing, some students complained that it was not open to incoming students, or that it required them to go through a complicated assignment process, or that it was located in an inappropriate facility. Gender-inclusive housing is rarely available in all residence halls and in all types of housing (doubles, suites, and apartments), so trans students are forced to choose between housing that supports their gender identity and housing that relates to other aspects of their identities and interests, such as a floor for people in their major, a first-year living/learning program, or an honors residence hall.
Colleges must provide safe and comfortable housing for trans students as an ethical imperative. Institutions are also legally required by the Department of Education under Title IX to house trans students in keeping with their gender identities.
Another concern cited by many study participants was not being able to include their chosen name (which for many differs from their birth name) or their gender identity on campus records. More and more colleges are creating a process for students to have their chosen first name (some institutions refer to this as “preferred” name, but it is not a preference) on course and grade rosters, advisee and campus housing lists, online directories, email addresses, unofficial transcripts, and identification cards and diplomas. But only about 150 colleges currently offer this option. There is no legitimate reason for colleges not to provide a chosen-name option; it is legal to do so in all states, and software systems used by campuses can be modified to accommodate an additional first name.
Only about a third of the colleges that allow students to add a chosen name also enable them to change the gender marker on their campus records, unless they have changed their gender on legal documents, which in many states requires undergoing gender-affirming surgeries. Having the gender marker on campus records match one’s gender identity and expression is important in instances when gender comes into play at colleges — such as for housing, locker-room, and bathroom purposes.
For those students who do not identify as male or female, the inability to indicate their gender identity on campus records is especially frustrating. And even at colleges that permit a gender-marker change, it is generally only from M to F or F to M. Colleges must provide more gender options on forms and documents, so that students’ gender identities are institutionally respected and no longer administratively invisible.
If nonbinary trans students are to move from the margins to the center of campus life, colleges must not only do more to address their needs but also educate cisgender (that is, nontransgender) students and faculty and staff members about their experiences. Most of the nonbinary trans students I interviewed suggested that their colleges present basic information about trans people to all students at an orientation session, and require all faculty and staff members to attend a trans-focused workshop similar to those offered on sexual harassment. Only when institutions and individuals learn to stop thinking about gender identity solely in terms of male and female will no trans college students be left behind.
