Making UNL accessible to transgenders requires more education, awareness

When Ryan Sallans went to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1997 to 2004, campus had very few resources for transgender students.

"The campus didn't have as much awareness about transgender issues then, as it does now," he said. "But I had a small group of staff that were able to direct me to where I needed to go for help."

Sallans is a national advocate for transgender and intersex communities. And while the university has made efforts to become more accommodating, some think there is more to be done.

"We do have gender-neutral bathrooms," said Sinduja Sathiyaseelan , an adviser for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Queer Ally Coalition. "But they're not at all accessible."

Gender-neutral bathrooms, which provide a place for transgender students and staff to use the facilities without having to make gender choices, are located in various places on campus, a complete list of which can be found on the UNL LGBT Resource Center website. Sathiyaseelan said that she felt the bathrooms were hard to find on campus and often in arbitrary parts of the buildings.

"It'd be really nice if they put gender-neutral bathrooms in really accessible places," she said.

Ted Weidner, assistant vice chancellor of Facilities Management, discussed how the gender-neutral bathrooms came into existence.

"We were contacted maybe four years ago, saying we needed bathrooms for transgender students," he said.

The gender-neutral bathrooms on campus today used to be single-occupancy bathrooms, he said. And the effort doesn't stop there.

"We should be ensuring that every new facility has gender-neutral bathrooms," Weidner said.

UNL's Campus Recreation Center provides one gender-neutral changing room, which is available for all students to use.

Also, the issue of preferred name and pronouns is a prevalent problem for transgender students. While students have found professors to be accepting of using preferred names and pronouns in class, many have found it difficult dealing with things like Blackboard and Husker email accounts, where legal names and sexes are recorded.

Students, however, can contact Information Services if they are having problems with names, and solutions can be discussed.

Additionally, the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at the University Health Center is open to counseling transgender students in order to help them in the transition process and to provide an open ear to any problems they may encounter.

Another issue transgender students face is gender segregation in terms of residential housing. While single-occupancy dorms are available, freshman students are not allowed to live in them, and they are about $600 more than shared housing. Knoll Residential Hall is an option for transgender students. Knoll provides single-occupancy rooms for sophomores, juniors and seniors, and their shared rooms have private, gender-neutral bathrooms. However, the price of Knoll, like the single-occupancy rooms in other residential halls, is higher.

"I don't think it's going out of its way to be trans-friendly," Sathiyaseelan said of campus.

She mentioned that students are aware of gay issues but not so much transgender issues.

Catherine Balta, the program coordinator at the UNL LGBT Resource Center and a sophomore advertising major, agreed that gay and lesbian issues are more widely known than issues transgender students may experience.

"I think it's forgotten about a little more than the rest of the (LGBT) community," she said. But said she did see some positive improvements in how UNL handles transgender issues. "There are more resources coming up, which is good."

To ensure that UNL's campus is safe and accessible for all students, education is key, Sathiyaseelan said.

"More teachers could incorporate this into their curriculum," she said, "because it's definitely relevant to a lot of classes."

Treating transgender issues like everyday issues, instead of making a big deal about them, would increase acceptance and accessible resources, Sathiyaseelan said.

"I think campus has improved tremendously in the past seven years," Sallans said. "Of course, there are areas that could use improvement, but I feel a lot of the staff working toward trans-inclusion on campus have their heart in the right places."

dylanroberson@dailynebraskan.com