Final Action Project: Gender Neutral Bathrooms

For my final action project, I posted fliers around Pace University, asking people to “sign the petition” for gender neutral bathrooms. Jordan, a student at Pace had already begun a petition asking for more gender neutral and ADA accessible bathrooms on campus. I am passionate about gender equity and transgender equality, specifically in terms of bathroom safety, and thought expanding on a campaign that was already in action at Pace would be a good way to create a stronger, more impactful campaign. My fliers, only ask people to sign the petition made by Jordan, directs people to where they can sign the petition, and provides information on why it is important to support this petition. I made one main template for the flier, but have multiple versions of the flier. One focused on general safety in regards to bathroom use, while the other focused more specifically on the needs at Pace and accessibility.

The fliers both raised awareness and incited mobilization, by asking people to sign a petition that could potentially have a strong impact on a proposal that has already been sent to the administration, but has been stalled. The effectiveness of this campaign will be very strongly focused on whether or not people actually show up to sign the petition. One of my main worries was that people would want to sign the petition, but would not want to direct themselves to the 9^th floor of 41 Park Row. This is why I thought beneficial to post up many of the fliers in Park Row, as to see if people would be more likely to sign it, if all they had to do was take an elevator ride. I attached the petition to a few of the fliers, to see if that would be more effective. I was worried that there would be vandalism on the petition, so I was hesitant to post with the flier. However, I have not received any vandalism yet.

I posted most of my fliers on each floor of 41 Park Row and in the 182 Broadway residence halls. I found that in the residence hall, posting up the petition with the flier was more effective than just posting the flier directing people to Park Row to sign. I also found that using Facebook was beneficial because although the flier gave some information, a lot of people wanted more information or did not understand why the petition was put in place. I received questions and comments stating, “but we already have gender neutral bathrooms, I have used one” or “the dorms have private bathrooms, it doesn’t matter”. These types of responses were easier to respond to online because with just the posted fliers, many of this questions do not get asked or heard. I think using social media platforms gave people more agency to ask questions and learn more, without having to go out of their way. “Media can be a powerful tool to deliver a political message, but the media is not the message– and media mobilization focuses attention on the movement’s analysis, rights claims organizational soundness, and policy prescription, for better or worse” (Brysk, 145). Brysk’s discussion of the use of media made me conscious of how to use social media. I felt that it was important to post my fliers online, even though the original plan was to post only hard copies around Pace. I decided both methods were important because social media can reach people in a way that hard copies posted on a cork board cannot. As Brysk argued, media is powerful, but it can be both positive and negative. Brysk argued that sometimes social media can be dangerous because it can garner negative responses, or drudge up incorrect information. My attempt with this campaign was to use multiple different platforms to gain the most coverage.

(posted on Facebook)

I originally thought about a way to post the petition online, however, I decided against this because having hand written signatures seems like it would be more powerful than a button click. It gives people their own voice, versus an online button saying I agree. As Brysk discussed, the voice is important. I wanted this campaign to have the voice of anyone at Pace that felt this was important. A petition is a great way of connecting allies with an issue without over powering voices of those who have been directly affected. This is why I liked the idea of building off of the petition. I was very worried about who my voice was going to be and by using these fliers and directing people to the petition, the voice is the Pace Community, as well as those who responded to the survey that I used in one of my fliers.

 One of my posters holds a statistic, stating “52% of trans & gender non-conforming individuals reported being verbally harassed or disrespected in public restrooms” (Grant et al., 124). I was unsure how to not overstep my place as an ally, but still create a meaningful campaign. I attempted to let others, do the talking for me. I used one of the only specifically transgender focused surveys, Injustice at Every Turn, to get information for the flier. I was however, very careful of what words I used. I did not want to sensationalize the campaign, or create pity for the victim. My attempt in the campaign, was to simply show there was a need for ADA and gender neutral bathrooms on campus, as someone had already demonstrated by creating the petition, and get people to sign the petition. I framed the issue as a human rights issue and a safety issue, rather than simply a transgender or disability issue. I took my strategy from the article, “Spelling it Out: From Alphabet Soup to Sexual Rights and Gender Justice,” by Sangeeta Budhiraja, Susana Fried, and Alexandra Teixeira. They argued “rights-based organizing strategies and development interventions around sexual orientation and gender expression need to shift away from common categories of identity toward a broader context of struggle” (Budhiraja, 132). Although some of the wording changes from post to poster, the main tag line stays the same, “Public bathroom safety is a RIGHT not a privilege.” I wanted to highlight the importance that many people take for granted the ability to use a public restroom while at school. Being transgender or gender non-conforming can make it difficult to use gender segregated public restrooms for fear of intimidation, harassment, and violence (Grant et al.)

I was, however, conscious of the fact that I wanted to make sure I had the transgender voice in my campaign, because that is mainly what I was focusing on. Although I was framing the issue as a human rights issue, I wanted to make sure my voice was strongly centered around transgender rights as well. Brysk wrote that performance was a strong tool to use in a campaign. She said, “life narratives of human rights abuses have become a powerful vehicle for human rights campaigns” (Brysk, 109) I wanted to be able to use the power of performance to share stories on the poster, however, when I put more specific stories on the poster, it seemed to be too convoluted.

I think that this campaign was successful because there are multiple initiatives pushing for gender neutral bathrooms. The discussion around their importance has begun, which is an important. This campaign was a building block off of previous campaigns that I have been a part of or new about. I have done a lot of research on the importance of gender neutral bathrooms, and have become very passionate about. In early 2013, a coworker and I put together a presentation that focused on teaching students, staff, and faculty the importance of gender neutral bathrooms, and pushed for the implementation of more gender neutral bathrooms at Pace. This presentation was constantly changing and evolving, eventually including research on exactly how many gender neutral bathrooms were in each building and on each floor of Pace, in the NYC campus, Pleasantville campus, and the Midtown center. Taking the presentation even further, we teamed up with students who were researching the accessibility of bathrooms at Pace. The presentation quickly turned into both a campaign to educate about the need for gender neutral bathrooms, but ADA accessible gender neutral bathrooms. This research was compiled and given to the head of the LGBTQA & Social Justice Center, who then formulated a detailed proposal, asking for the implementation of more accessible gender neutral bathrooms. This bathroom equity campaign would not have been possible without the collaboration of many different students, staff and faculty who all have passions regarding transgender rights, disability rights, and equity for everyone who attends Pace, and outside of Pace. I think this experience and my experience in class during our presentations, showed me how important collaboration is to make a strong campaign.

A formal proposal asking for more gender neutral bathrooms was created, all the research was compiled and it was then sent to the provost and administration at the University. However, after being sent in the end of 2013, the campaign became quiet. As we waited for something to be done, we realized that after months there was nothing being done, and no discussion being had. In March, Jordan decided to revamp the fight for gender neutral bathrooms by creating the petition. This seemed like a step in the right direction, to begin movement on a topic that I was, and still am very passionate about. I had done so much research and focused so much of my time on educating people about gender neutral bathrooms, but had felt like not much had been truly done. I hope if this petition can get enough signatures it could possibly make a difference in the forcefulness of the proposal. I asked how I could get involved in this petition and make a change, and most of the people I talked to said, just get signatures. That is when I decided it would be beneficial to make informative posters, asking people to sign the petition, while telling people why the petition is important. 

(Restrooms in Pace, where accessible gender neutral bathrooms are and are not, in the proposal, research done by me)

On the New York City campus of Pace University, there are no accessible or gender neutral bathrooms on floors two through six, which are the main classroom floors. This is problematic, because it forces someone who feels uncomfortable or is unable to use the multi-stall, un-accessible, gender segregated bathrooms to take extra time out of class, or feel as though they need to wait to use the bathroom, which then causes health problems. This type of segregation also creates stigma around people who do not conform to the gender expectations or ability expectations that our society has. This needs to change!

More places to learn about gender neutral bathroom accessibility in regards to transgender rights and equality.

The Sylvia Rivera Project- srlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2010-toolkit.pdf

"Toilet Training" Pamphlet

Transgenderlaw.org

Peeing in Peace

San Francisco Human Rights Commission Gender Neutral bathroom survey 2002

Injustice at Every Turn

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Website

Bibliography:

Budhiraja, Sangeeta, Susana T. Fried and Alexandra Teixeira. 2010. "Spelling It Out: From Alphabet Soup to Sexual Rights and Gender Justice," pp. 131‐144 in Amy Lind (ed.) Development, Sexual Rights and Global Governance.

Brysk, Alison. 2013. Speaking Rights to Power. New York: Oxford University Press. Print.

Grant, Jaime, Lisa Mottet, Justin Tanis, et al. 2011. Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. National Center for Transgender Equality. http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf

India, Third Gender

Below I have copied an article posted on the BBC, written by Geeta Pandy, about the legal addition of a third gender to documents in India. 

The article, as well as other discuss this as a human rights issue a s they should. However, this article makes it seem as though this will make those who are transgender less ostracized. I am not so sure that this would be the case. I think that although this is a step, this type of categorization may add to the disconnect between those who are trans and those who are cisgender. 

I guess only time will tell. 

Written by Geeta Pandy:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27031180

"India's Supreme Court has recognised transgender people as a third gender, in a landmark ruling.

"It is the right of every human being to choose their gender," it said in granting rights to those who identify themselves as neither male nor female.

It ordered the government to provide transgender people with quotas in jobs and education in line with other minorities, as well as key amenities.

According to one estimate, India has about two million transgender people.

In India, a common term used to describe transgender people, transsexuals, cross-dressers, eunuchs and transvestites is hijra.

Campaigners say they live on the fringes of society, often in poverty, ostracised because of their gender identity. Most make a living by singing and dancing or by begging and prostitution.

Rights groups say they often face huge discrimination and that sometimes hospitals refuse to admit them.

They have been forced to choose either male or female as their gender in most public spheres.

'Proud Indian'

"Recognition of transgenders as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue," Justice KS Radhakrishnan, who headed the two-judge Supreme Court bench, said in his ruling on Tuesday.

"Transgenders are also citizens of India" and they must be "provided equal opportunity to grow", the court said.

"The spirit of the Constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender."

The judges asked the government to treat them in line with other minorities officially categorised as "socially and economically backward", to enable them to get quotas in jobs and education.

"We are quite thrilled by the judgement," Anita Shenoy, lawyer for the petitioner National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa), told the BBC.

"The court order gives legal sanctity to the third gender. The judges said the government must make sure that they have access to medical care and other facilities like separate wards in hospitals and separate toilets," she said.

Prominent transgender activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, who was among the petitioners in the case, welcomed the judgement, saying the community had long suffered from discrimination and ignorance in the traditionally conservative country, reports the Agence France-Presse news agency.

"Today, for the first time I feel very proud to be an Indian," Ms Tripathi told reporters outside the court in Delhi.

In 2009, India's Election Commission took a first step by allowing transgenders to choose their gender as "other" on ballot forms.

But India is not the first country to recognise a third gender. Nepal recognised a third gender as early as in 2007 when the Supreme Court ordered the government to scrap all laws that discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. And last year, Bangladesh also recognised a third gender.

Tuesday's ruling comes after the Supreme Court's decision in December which criminalised gay sex by reversing a landmark 2009 Delhi High Court order which had decriminalised homosexual acts.

According to a 153-year-old colonial-era law - Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code - a same-sex relationship is an "unnatural offence" and punishable by a 10-year jail term.

Legal experts say Tuesday's judgement puts transgender people in a strange situation: on the one hand, they are now legally recognised and protected under the Constitution, but on the other hand they may be breaking the law if they have consensual gay sex."

Going Unreported

(From Transgender Europe's Trans Murder Monitoring Project)

I used this photo in my presentation in class. I however was unable to express the importance of the implications this information makes. Violence against transgender individuals in Jamaica is much higher than listed on this map. When they list the number of murders, the project states that these are only reported cases and "reports from local newspapers that have no web presence are missing". Murder and violence against transgender people, especially in countries like Jamaica, have very low rates of being reported. I noticed when I was looking for news sources, many of them headlines as, crossdresser murdered in Jamaica. In addition, as we read in the Jo Becker book, Campaigning for Justice, much of the violence against trans folks was done by police and if someone died it was not considered murder, it was cited as accidental. The incredibly low rate of reported crimes against transgender people is unacceptable. 

I have a friend whose is from Jamaica and he once told me, LGBT hate crimes and violence is just part of the culture. The Jo Becker book, also cited that Jamaica has a culture of violence. I thought of this when I was looking at the Trans Murder Monitoring Project and realized that we need to stop blaming culture. Uma Narayan discussed dowry murders in India, in her chapter Dislocating Cultures. She stated that we need to realized that dowry murders are a form of domestic violence, just as we have domestic violence here in the United States. However, domestic violence and murders by domestic violence are not are well documented. It is important to begin to bridge the gaps between narratives and realize that throughout the world we have common problems, like hate crimes and domestic violence, and we need to start looking at these problems as world wide and not just third world. 

As the map shows, there are a large about of murders against transgender people in the United States as well. In 2012-2013, there were 16 murders in the United States of trans folks. In 33 states in the United States, one can be fired for being transgender, or for being gender non-conforming. There is transgender discrimination all around the world, including in the United States. I focused on Jamaica in this post because it seems that there is a large problem with visibility around the violence, and a big problem with blaming culture. However, in Brazil we see that there are over 400 murders in 5 years. The problem is visible but people do not care. How can we get people to start realizing that this is a huge problem and something needs to change? We need to stop blaming culture, and the United States and the "West" need to stop pretending that they are so much further ahead, because in terms of trans rights the United States falls behind. 

Check out the Trans Murder Monitoring Project Website: http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/en_US/tvt-project/tmm-results.htm

Sources mentioned in this article: 

Jo Becker, 2012. "Chapter 10: LGBTI Right in Jamaica and Nepal" in Campaigning for Justice: Human Rights Advocacy. (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press). 

Uma Narayan, "Cross Cultural Connections, Border-Crossings and "Death by Culture". in Dislocating Cultures. 

Trans versus Trans*

Recently, I read a post on Tumblr, that had a photo of different terms crossed out that have been used to reference trans women. Most of the cross outs I understood, however, there was one that caught me off guard. This was the term trans* woman. The post had crossed out this term, stating that it was offensive. The blogger was commenting on the use of the asterisk (*) when writing about trans women specifically. The post said, do some research if you do not know why these terms are offensive.

So I did some research. I found a number of blogs and informal writings on why some people use the * and why others find it offensive. Some of the article stated that it was used to reference the whole umbrella of trans, including drag queens, cross dressers, non-binary folks and others, while the trans without an asterisk was more specific to people who identified within the binary. Some people argued that the trans* term had been mainly created and used by men and leaving out trans women. Some of the arguments were strong and others did not make as much sense. However, what I did ascertain from my research, was terms are very hard to navigate.

Just as we have talked about it class, it is hard to make every person fit into a box, or make every person agree with what others have to say. However, what frustrated me was that the blogger that posted the picture and small blurb did not give any reason for their post, but asked the reader to do their own research. I understand this someone, but I also feel as though this problematic because it is like saying, Obama is a terrible president, but not commenting on why you think that. I felt as though I was left high and dry.

There were some feminist perspectives on the asterisk, but they did not seem fully developed. I had a hard time finding a strong argument of why the term is offensive, other than "it is".

I bring up the discussion of trans versus trans* because I have come in contact with some people who really like the use of trans* because they say that it is more inclusive. I have also come in contact with some people that despise the use of trans* and deem it offensive. I am on the fence, unsure of what to do.

Through taking this course I have become very aware of my voice and very wary of overstepping my bounds. The use of labels is very difficult, and some truly like labels while others truly hate labels. I have come to realize that there will always be conflict of how people identify themselves and how people identify others.

A discussion of labels does not only apply to trans folks, it applies to people of different cultures, ethnicity's, countries, genders, sexes, ages and so much more. Labels can cause incredible divides between people, but they can also bridge gaps. That is one really important discussion that we have made all semester is the importance of finding similar goals and common grounds, bridging narratives, even when we are so different.

Transgender Inclusion

We need to begin to realize what it means to say LGBT, and what it means to be an ally to the LGBT community. I have many read articles arguing for LGBT rights and "LGBT" marriage. However, I think it is important to realize when we are fighting for LGBT rights, and when we are really fighting for LGB rights and actually leaving out the T. While it is important to find connections between movements and identities, and bridge the gaps between people, it is important  to notice where the T is left out. This is especially important when we look at policies and legislation. Sometimes sexual orientation is included, but gender identity and expression are not mentioned.

What does trans inclusion mean? The past three blogs that I posted talk about a variety of problems that come with trans inclusion. One was a series of photos, one discussed Iranian football players that had been suspended, and the other discussed transgender inclusive insurance at college within the United States. These are all incredibly different topics, but they all have a similarity in that they talk about what it means to be trans and what it means to be different.

Transgender is a term that continuously includes an incredibly large variety of identities relating to gender expression and identity. The issues of transgender individuals span further than marriage. The same is true for LGB individuals. However, it is never really discussed that marriage does not directly connect to trans identity because many times the issues include more specific federal needs including changing ones gender on their birth certificate and being affirmed as ones true gender identity.

In Iran, a person may change their gender on their birth certificate, only if they have full gender realignment surgery. The article with photos of transgender folks in Mongolia show the incredible variation's of what it means to be trans. I used these articles because they showed the hard ships but also the difference in needs of trans folks from LGB folks. There needs to be a clear understanding of the differences between LGB folks and trans folks, when we the needs and rights of LGBT folks are discussed.