In order to raise awareness about transgender issues on campus, Olivia Chitayat (COL `10) has teamed up with Residential Life & Facilities to go out next week and inventory how many gender-neutral bathrooms are available on campus. Gender-neutral bathrooms are bathrooms that are not restricted to one gender. Chitayat pointed out that most bathrooms and all housing is gendered at Georgetown. Instead of creating an inclusive policy for those students who do not fit in traditional genders, Georgetown has accommodated transgender students on a case-by-case basis.
On October 24, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Questioning Resource Center released a report about its progress this past year. On August 26, 2008, Georgetown became the first Catholic university to open a fully staffed LGBTQ resource center.
The report details the LGBTQ Center’s progress implementing working group suggestions, the Center’s cooperation with other campus organizations, trainings and workshops, and its outreach to alumni.
Looking forward, the Center first seeks to improve by paying more attention to transgender issues.
“Transgender identities on campus are very much under the radar,” GUPride Co-Chair Joseph Graumann (SFS ‘11) said. “People don’t really think there are transgender students, but there are… Georgetown is kind of very hostile to trans students.”
Two years ago, President DeGioia held a town hall meeting to discuss LGBTQ issues in the wake of a series of hate crimes on campus, not dissimilar to the alleged bias-related assault which just occurred this past Tuesday night. According to a Public Safety Alert, a female student was assaulted on Canal Road after the two male suspects made “derogatory comments based on her perceived sexual orientation.”
The hate crimes two years ago led DeGioia to form three working groups to explore LGBTQ issues. According to Director Sivagami Subbaraman, the suggestions from the working groups—about better bias-related incident reporting, better resources, and better education and outreach—guided how she set up the center.
In the first 14 months, more than 80 percent of the chief recommendations from the working groups have either been implemented in full, or the groundwork has been put in place for their establishment, the October report explains.
Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olsen said he is encouraged by the Center’s progress and by the way Subbaraman has reached out to faculty, staff, and student leaders on behalf of LGBTQ students.
Both Olsen and Subbaraman pointed to the Center’s partnership with the campus ministries as a strong point, and Graumann calls that partnership its biggest success this past year. He said the campus ministry has been “willing and able” to provide resources for LGBTQ students and co-sponsor events with GUPride.
Graumann said the Center helps GUPride with the funding and execution of events, and GUPride helps the Center with publicity and turn out. However, Georgetown’s Catholic identity limits which GUPride events the Center can support.
“Because of Catholic doctrine, the Center can advocate for LGBT identities but not necessarily… sex,” Graumann said. “The fact that they’re not allowed to advocate for the ‘naughty bits’ of the LGBT identity speaks to the fact that the identity is a lot more rich than just sex, and students have a lot of needs because of their identities.”
The LGBTQ Center has also established collaborations with many other campus groups, including groups as diverse as the Women’s Center, Career Education Center, Athletics, DPS and more. Subbaraman said for the most part, nearly all the events they put on are collaborative. One of the initial campaigners for the LGBTQ Center, Chitayat said that collaboration is essential to the Center’s success so that it doesn’t become marginalized.
The Center hopes to create a more welcoming atmosphere on campus for all Hoyas, including alumni and future students.
“Significant challenges remain for us in admissions,” the report says. “But we are hopeful that Georgetown will be listed as one of the top colleges in the country for a welcoming climate. Several students and parents have told us informally that their final decision to come here was partly based on the fact that there is a Center on campus, and that GU is welcoming to LGBTQ students.”
Another initial campaigner for the LGBTQ Center, Julia Shindel (COL ’10) said there still needs to be a “serious rethinking of the campus climate” to make Georgetown a more welcoming place.
“The Center provides an institutional support,” Shindel said. “I’m really grateful it’s been there. Yes, the campaign happened, and yes, it was victorious, but the danger is thinking the fight is over. [The Center is] just a room, with great people, but just a room isn’t going to stop hate crimes. Students need to be ready to be radical. [We’ve been] too tame for too long.”
