After eight years of debate and controversy, the Maricopa Community College District Board added transgendered individuals to its anti-discrimination list. The list, which protects students from harassment or discrimination, already included characteristics such as race, religion and sexual orientation. However, despite transgender's inclusion on anti-discrimination lists at 390 colleges and universities around the U.S., including the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, the Maricopa Community College system did not directly address protection for the transgendered population until the board's September 29, 2011 ruling.
What the Policy Accomplishes
The new Maricopa Community College policy protects individuals who identify as a different gender as well as those who medically transition to another gender. Specifically, the policy prohibits harassment, name calling, removal from gender-specific bathrooms and having grades, tests and other evaluations impacted by an indivdual's actual or perceived gender. Other protected groups and characteristics include age, disability, citizenship status, genetic information, national origin and veteran status. The revised policy covers students, faculty and employees at all colleges, skills centers and administrative offices within the Maricopa Community College system. More than 20 people spoke in favor of the policy change; the 3-2 vote results were met with cheering, according to AZ Central.com.
Widespread Discrimination
Though in recent years transgendered individuals, or those who identify themselves with another gender, are often inlcuded as the last letter in the acronym LGBT -- which stands for lesbian, gay and bisexual -- this population still faces instutitionalized discrimination. In fact, a 2011 survey released by the National Center for Transgender Equality, an advocacy group that works toward equal treatment for transgendered persons, reports that almost every transgender person surveyed had experienced discrimination. Fifty-five percent of survey participants had lost a job due to discrimination, 90 percent experienced harassment or discrimination at work, and 41 percent had attempted sucicide, as compared to 1.6 percent of the general population.
Controversy
Though statistics indicate that transgendered populations experience discrimination on a regular basis, not everyone supports the new anti-discrimination policy. According to the "Phoenix New Times," a spokesperson for the Arizona-based advocacy group Family Watch International said that the protection would be too broad, citing the potential for bathroom privacy issues. An article in "Echo" magazine notes that Republican state representative Andy Biggs called the policy shift "radical," stating that it would have a negative effect on community college enrollment. In contrast, a spokesperson for the policy-sponsoring group Equality Maricopa told "The Arizona Republic" that the policy could result in higher enrollment, as more transgender students felt safe to attend college, even while going through a medical transition process. Only time will tell if this progressive policy increases both the safety and enrollment of transgendered students.
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