A name provides a sense of self, individuality and identity – but for some, birth names don’t align with who they are.
“I hate my birth name with a passion,” Color Parsons, freshman in psychology, said. “If there is anything that makes me dysphoric, it’s my birth name.”
Parsons does not identify as either male or female, not ascribing to the gender binary. Assuming the pronouns ‘they’ ‘they’re’ and ‘their’ for self-reference, Parsons said the non-binary gender identity is comparable to the various hues and shades of a color wheel.
“I could be on any particular point in that spectrum on any given day, which has its own challenges,” Parsons said.
Seemingly simple things, like the use of names or pronouns in class, can become a source of discomfort for transgender students on a campus designed for two genders. Parsons, like many other non-binary students, said they have to individually email and correct class rosters that incorrectly refer to them by their birth name.
At many universities, campus officials handle such issues internally. Purdue and the University of Arizona, for example, go so far as to allow students to change their legal names on their ID cards, while more than 130 other universities simply allow for a name change to school documents or class rosters.
The University of Tennessee, which was named the 14th least LGBT-friendly college by The Princeton Review, in a list of 379 institutions, currently offers no such services to its trans community. Members of Student Government Association, volOUT and UT’s Commission for LGBT People recently created a preferred name change policy bill to be presented to the Student Senate, but that bill has not been seen by the senate at the time that this article was published.
For Rickey Hall, vice chancellor for diversity, the active steps necessary to safeguard the well-being of UT’s transgender students are largely dependent on time. While Hall said he recognizes transgender students can be, and often are, “outed” by class rosters that use birth names rather than preferred names, a trans-friendly change to the system isn’t likely without a widespread upgrade.
“Sometimes it’s not something you address today or tomorrow,” Hall said, stressing that upgrades to university systems, like UT’s Banner system, are normally only conducted every decade or so. “It’s looking at what the issues are and having those conversations so people know that when we have an opportunity, we need to make sure that’s our next upgrade.”
The changes needed to create a more transgender inclusive campus, however, go beyond just names.
James Ballard, sophomore in biology who identifies as non-binary, is left with no option for campus housing that is conducive to their sexual identity, as UT does not currently offer gender-neutral housing options on campus.
“I’m constantly being pushed into female dorms, which is very uncomfortable for me,” said Ballard, who expressed their resentment for the university’s perpetuation of their unwanted female identity. “Being called things like ‘lady’ or ‘girl,’ those things are actually very hurtful to me.
“They’re offensive to me and they bother me.”
For Lee Owen, senior in history and philosophy, similar issues arise. Owen, a transgender man, began his transition at the same time he began his college career. While many students were worrying about new classes or troublesome roommates, much of Owen’s time, he said, was spent “dealing with being trans, and that’s a big barrier to getting an education.”
One notable barrier Owen has to deal with as a transgender student is finding restrooms that are comfortable and, more importantly, safe for use.
“It’s pretty distracting during your day if you’re having to build your class schedule around where you can go to the bathroom and feel safe,” Owen explained.
While the university plans to install gender-neutral bathrooms in every building by 2019, the current lack of such facilities in many buildings leaves Owen and other transgender students across campus consistently finding themselves inconvenienced and often fearful for their well-being.
Rather than blame the university, however, Owen said he acknowledges that finding ways to ensure transgender equality is no small task.
“So many things you can do to help trans students are really new, and colleges are just trying to figure them out,” Owen explained. “If you’re not taking active steps, it’s going to end up in not having the policies you need.”
Marisa Richmond, a transgender woman and lobbyist for the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, said the issues faced by transgender UT students are just a small part of the bigger picture.Through her work with the coalition, Richmond addresses various issues pertinent to the transgender community, including the lack of state shelters open to the transgender homeless in Tennessee. Currently, there are only six within the entire state, none of which are located in Knoxville. Tennessee is also the only state in the country with a law specifically banning a change of gender on birth certificates.
One of the biggest challenges Richmond faces daily, she said, is encouraging transgender individuals to express their concerns and use their voices to openly support transgender rights.
“A lot of people are afraid and very fearful and sometimes don’t want to report, and encouraging them to do so is a challenge in and of itself,” Richmond said. “Especially in East Tennessee, we hear from a lot of people who are just afraid of being out.”
