Interdisciplinary studies senior Brendan Pantilione worked to create a gender-neutral housing option for ASU during his freshman year.
He and a fellow student researched different options around the U.S. and then worked with ASU Housing and administration to create the current Gender Inclusive Housing option, he said in an email.
“The solution at the time was to stick the student in a single room, but we wanted to see an option that better integrated these students into typical student life,” Pantilione said.
He said he supports efforts to improve access to Gender Inclusive Housing.
“I think what is in place is a decent first step, but it’s a long way from perfect,” he said. “I am really glad that there is an option, but I am very happy about the initiative to take it further.”
Pantilione said LGBTQ students face enough obstacles to their educations without having to worry about housing, too.
In particular, he cited the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s national school climate survey, which collects information about bias and discrimination against LGBTQ students in middle and high schools.
Those statistics illustrate how many barriers LGBTQ students must overcome just to get to college, he said.
If ASU requires students to live on campus for their freshman year, it should be committed to cultivating a comfortable environment for LGBTQ students, Pantilione said.
Pantilione said the biggest improvement to the current option would be an increase in transparency.
When he came to campus, he had concerns about housing, but he knew the LGBTQA specialist and was able to ask them for guidance, he said.
He said the current process doesn’t offer enough details to students who may be interested in Gender Inclusive Housing and requires them to send their requests to an unknown person.
“We wanted to ensure the system would be welcoming to people who needed it and ensure there were no unnecessary barriers or the need to prove yourself,” Pantilione said. “The system does not seem like that is the case.”
Pantilione said ASU does not seem very aware of LGBTQ issues.
He said he faced many obstacles trying to get the current gender-neutral housing option and that the removal of the LGBTQA specialist position was a questionable move.
The LGBTQA specialist position was cut in May. ASU replaced it with a team of advisers who serve all multicultural student groups. The team has different point people for each group, but it functions as one unit.
However, Pantilione said he appreciates student insurance offering coverage for gender-confirming healthcare and the resources that are available.
“Resources for LGBTQ students are just like everything else at ASU: If you want to find it, you can,” Pantilione said.
Self-Advocacy
Gloria Noronha-Peschau, one of the LGBTQ point people on the advisory team, said in an email that the advisory team is proactive about and responsive to student needs.
She said the team uses a student-driven model so students can learn to advocate for themselves.
“By guiding and supporting student leaders and pointing them in the right direction of resources and services that are available to them, we begin to develop students so they can be empowered to advocate for their own needs,” she said. “The student-driven model is so students from all identities learn the skills to grow and learn and make an impact on their education and experience that they wish to have.”
Noronha-Peschau said having a team of advisers instead of just one specialist for each group broadens the network of support a student can receive.
The team fosters students’ growth all different areas of their identity and helps them become more rounded, she said.
It also creates more opportunities for them to build relationships with faculty and staff members and broadens their safe and respectful space at the university, Noronha-Peschau said.
She said the advisory team recognizes the needs of ASU’s LGBTQ community and wants to work with them to improve conditions for them at the University.
“The most important value to recognize is that students who belong to the LGBTQ community all have unique needs, and it is critical to voice this value through all programming and initiatives,” she said. “We greatly value student engagement and leadership and strive to work with them to continually better the ASU community for their respective identity.”
Spotlighting Services
Isabelle Murray, LGBTQA Coalition president and a Spanish and psychology junior, said she is happy with the new advisory team’s ability to make cross-group connections, but she does worry about the members getting overwhelmed.
Murray, who is an ally, said ASU does not do enough to let students know what accommodations are available to LGBTQ students.
She knew there were gender-neutral bathrooms and locker rooms on campus, but she didn’t know there was a gender-neutral housing option, she said.
Having the accommodations isn’t enough if they aren’t advertised, Murray said.
“If you’re going to provide a service, people have to know it’s there,” she said.
Murray said students are happy to be getting what they want from ASU but that the University needs to do more to increase awareness of the accommodations so students can use them.
Increased access to gender-neutral accommodations would be the physical proof that ASU is committed to creating an inclusive campus environment, she said.
“I feel like they’re kind of downplaying what they’re doing right now, and they need to spotlight it,” Murray said. “If they’re truly inclusive, they need to show it and not just say it.”
In addition to showing commitment to current LGBTQ students, advertising ASU’s gender-neutral accommodations would also attract more prospective LGBTQ students to ASU, she said.
“It makes a huge difference,” Murray said. “I think they’re making great strides, but it’s also a process.”
A Seat at the Table
English education Professor James Blasingame advises ASU’s genderWHAT?! club, a group that questions traditional constructions of gender identity.
Blasingame said he first became more interested in LGBTQ issues after Bill Konigsberg, an author who has been recognized for his work in LGBTQ literature, took some of his classes.
Konigsberg was interested in writing a young adult novel at the time. He went on to win the Lambda award, which celebrates LGBTQ literature, for that novel.
One of Blasingame’s specialties is young adult fiction, an area where it is especially important to have a variety of narratives, he said.
“There’s a book for everybody in which young readers can see themselves,” he said. “A good book can change someone’s life, and the right book can save someone’s life.”
At the university level, it is important to recognize the breadth of life experiences people have, Blasingame said.
He said intellectual pursuits can’t be channeled into just a few identities, adding that gender is just one of many identities that must be taken into account.
Identities typically thought to conform to a limited set of options, such as gender, can be particularly restrictive, he said.
“It’s like people are trying to dictate what your identity is, but they don’t know there are more identities than they’re aware of,” Blasingame said.
Blasingame paraphrased Malcolm Forbes, who published Forbes magazine, and said educators at all levels have a job of turning empty minds to open ones.
Educators have to realize all the different backgrounds their students may come from, Blasingame said.
“We need to make everyone feel welcome and feel welcome to express who they are without hesitation or fear of disapproval,” he said. “We need to provide a place for everybody at the table – and pull the chair out for them.”
Reach the reporter at ammedeir@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @amy_medeiros
