So, I get 5 minutes tomorrow to speak my piece to the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. Each month, the Regents have a "public comments" segment to their meeting where stakeholders and constituents can express their views on the University and its operation and administration. The rules are somewhat strict: each speaker is allowed only 5 minutes and no more than 6 speakers are allowed on one subject (equaling 1/2 of the total allotted public comments time).
Ten months ago, the Office of the Provost released its report on the climate for Transgender, Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay people on campus, entitled "From Inclusion to Acceptance: Report of the Task Force on the Campus Climate for TBLG Faculty, Staff, and Students." Ten months ago, I was ecstatic. Today, with no progress whatsoever on the Task Force's first and most important recommendation:
"We recommend that the Regents amend Bylaw 14.06 to provide nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all persons regardless of 'gender identity.'
We recommend that the University develop and adopt a Standard Practice Guide (SPG) for preventing discrimination based on gender identity, and that it also expand protections provided in other relevant SPGs and University policies to include gender identity"
I am disappointed. We were asked, then, to be patient. "It'll probably just happen without any fanfare over the summer." Then, "Wait until after the election. We hope to have a Democratic majority" (they also had one before). So, we waited patiently and we campaigned for the democrats (handing out tens of thousands of fliers in the process). The democrats won a 5-3 majority; with two of the democrats winning by a narrow margin. Now, we're hearing that the Regents do not even plan to address the recommendation.
In the meantime, the Graduate Employee's Organization (GEO) is being told that the University will NOT consider a non-discrimination clause in its contract or even discuss the removal of transgender medical care exclusions from its medical plan unless the Regents adopt this recommendation of the Provost.
So, a groundswell is beginning to develop. We've begun a petition drive, several cross-discipline student organizations have banded together to map out a strategy and we start tomorrow by asking the Regents why they would NOT want to protect this class of people -- especially when we would no longer be in the vanguard. We'd be following in the steps of schools like Ohio State University, among dozens of others.
[Update] In the comments 'Bert' (I disabled the link to his site because it was not one I felt comfortable linking to) suggests that what I propose is illegal under Prop 2. I wish he had left a logic trail to explain why he thinks so, because I just can't get there from here. How does an assurance that an individual will not be discriminated against in her/his job application (or will be given a pathway for redress if such discrimination can be proven) conflict with a law that says that people of the same sex cannot marry or enter into civil unions?
[Update 2] The University of Wisconsin's Board of Regents, last Friday added transgendered individuals to the list of those protected by its non-discrimination policy. (Link to story, (requires sign-up)).
The UW System Board of Regents added transgendered individuals to the list of those protected by the UW System's nondiscrimination policy at its meeting Friday, said Kimberly Barrett, vice chancellor for Student Development and Diversity.
The change will add the phrase "gender identity or expression" to documents addressing the System's nondiscrimination policy. The existing policy protects individuals from harassment or employment discrimination based on race, sex, religion, color, creed, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry or age.
Senior Jessica Janiuk, a transgender student and chair of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender affairs for Student Senate's Student Life and Diversity commission, said she spoke to the Board of Regents in December about her experiences. Both Janiuk and Barrett said the addition met with little resistance from the Regents.
"(Some) did have a look of surprise when I said there were no legal protections," Janiuk said.
"In the moments that followed the presentation ... they started immediately taking up the cause of adding gender identity and expression to the nondiscrimination cause."
"Gender identity" refers to a person's sense of identity as a man, woman or a combination of both or neither, according to a press release from the United Council of UW Students. "Gender expression" refers to the external presentation or appearance of a person's gender.
As a result of the change, UW-Eau Claire's Student Development and Diversity office will begin considering a range of issues for transgendered students including housing, gender-neutral bathrooms, health services and recreation, said Jodi Thesing-Ritter, associate dean for Student Development.
Janiuk said these issues can have the most impact for transgendered individuals during the transition phase.
"Early in your transition, you don't know where to go to be safe," Janiuk said. "There was one point where I was actually standing outside the male and female restrooms, looking back and forth, not knowing which one to go into.