Transgender and gender non-conforming students at the University of Pittsburgh are now required to use the bathroom or locker room that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificate. Historically, the University of Pittsburgh did not have an articulated policy regarding what bathrooms transgender people could use. Transgender and gender non-conforming students were able to use the bathroom or locker room of their identified gender.

Robert Hill, Pitt's spokesperson, says that the policy isn't new. The new rules merely codify practices that were already in place. This is news to transgender and gender non-conforming students. 

Pittsburgh and Allegheny counties both have nondiscrimination policies in place that protect individuals based on their perceived gender and gender idenitity. The University of Pittsburgh is now in direct violation of these policies. Without nondiscrimination laws such as these in place, transgender people are in danger every time they use the bathroom.

Furthermore, the University of Pittsburgh's own nondiscrimination policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

In Pennsylvania, transgender people cannot change the sex on their birth certificate unless they undergo expensive gender reassignment surgery, which is sometimes not an option for college students. Some states do not allow changes in birth certificates at all. As the policy stands, transgender athletes may play on the appropriate team for their identified gender but cannot use the locker room of the gender with which they identify.

Transgender students are disproportionately at risk for harassment, violence and for taking their own lives. Pitt should be doing all that it can to protect transgender and gender non-conforming students - not forcing them into uncomfortable, and potentially dangerous, situations.

Photo Credit: Piotrus