The West Hollywood City Council reached across the continent Monday night to condemn a ban on “gender-inclusive” housing on college campuses in North Carolina.
California Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed a law requiring California public schools to allow students from kindergarten through 12th grade to use bathrooms, showers, locker rooms and other facilities based on their “gender identity” and not on their biological sex.
By contrast, on Aug. 9, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors overturned a policy that would have allowed students of the opposite gender to share housing in some areas of the university’s Chapel Hill campus.
The city hall staff actually produced a report for the council criticizing the North Carolina decision. “Prior to passing the ban, the UNC Board of Governors did not hear any research related to possible negative impacts of the ban nor did they allow UNC students to express themselves regarding the ban. The UNC Board of Governors voted without hearing any public discussion on the matter.”
The city report argues that “same-gender housing does not always fit the diverse needs of students, especially those who identify as transgender or transitioning.”
Advocates of so-called “gender-inclusive housing” argue that gay or transgender students can be bullied and harassed in traditional campus housing.
The council also endorsed the Nov. 20 Transgender Day of Remembrance, which has been celebrated in the city for the past few years.
Attendance has grown at the event, which memorializes victims of transgender prejudice and hate, with over 300 participants last year, according to city staff members. The event began in 1998 after the murder of a transgender woman in San Francisco.
Transgender supporters also will march on Nov. 3 from Plummer Park to the transgender memorial that the city established in 2009 to the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Crescent Heights, which has been declared Sheppard Triangle.
