(Photo by Cydney Scott, BU Today)

This past year I had the privilege of changing the sex on my birth certificate from my natal sex to "X", a non-binary, third gender option recognized in my home state of New York. Receiving my new birth certificate in the mail meant I could begin changing my legal sex on other important records to best reflect my identity. I immediately reached out to Boston University, where I am a full-time undergraduate student, to update my sex in university records but I was told the following through email:

"Boston University recognizes that there are many expressions of gender identity, however we must retain only the legal (binary male/female) sex ... of our students for University records and Federal reporting." - Lucie Levine, Enrollment Service Advisor, Boston University Registrar (June 10, 2021).

My legal sex is X, not M or F, and the "X" marker is legally recognized in 20 U.S. states, including Massachusetts: 

"The “X” marker is available on both driver’s licenses and non-driver state IDs, and is in full compliance with national REAL ID requirements to allow for domestic air travel and other interactions with the federal government." https://www.mass.gov/news/massachusetts-allows-nonbinary-marker-on-licenses-ids

In other words, if BU needs to retain my legal sex for university records (which are separate from federal records, where the "X" marker is not yet universally recognized), then my legal sex is X and I should not have to compromise on that. The inability of the university's current information system to reflect that is a shortcoming of Boston University, and is not a fault of transgender and non-binary BU students, staff, and faculty who have had the opportunity, time, and financial means of legally changing their sex to "X".

In my email reply to the Registrar's Office, I provided proof that "X" is a legally recognized gender marker in Massachusetts, and also requested to have my email passed along to a staff member or group who had the authority to make a system-wide change to allow this as an option. I have sent two follow-up emails and have not heard back from BU since June 2021. I am writing this two months later in August 2021.

This is unacceptable and humiliating. Boston University's performative allyship of trans and non-binary students is unacceptable at best and dangerous at worst, with a history of providing unsafe freshman housing options (https://dailyfreepress.com/2018/10/04/transgender-students-face-difficulties-with-housing-at-bu/ & https://dailyfreepress.com/2021/06/18/transgender-students-share-frustrations-with-bu-housing-dorm-bathrooms/); continuing to promote its Student Health Services Gender-Affirming Healthcare department despite multiple student complaints of medical malpractice, privacy violations, and cultural insensitivity (https://www.reddit.com/r/BostonU/comments/o6edru/transgender_healthcare_at_bu/ & https://docs.google.com/document/d/1os4wUcVQhwxTnOCCBZAlKgCT0ojsi0fbgqgUBJB5Euk/edit); and is now stonewalling my request to update my sex marker in university records to match my ACTUAL legal sex.

There are already options for students to add their chosen names in Blackboard Learn, their Terrier/ID card, their BU email login username and email address, and the BU directory (procedures can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1os4wUcVQhwxTnOCCBZAlKgCT0ojsi0fbgqgUBJB5Euk/edit) While it may not be easy, there clearly already have been accommodations to various aspects of the university's information systems made for trans and non-binary students, faculty, and staff. Therefore, it should be possible to add a third, *legally-recognized* gender option to university records for the greater benefit, comfort, and validation of those who currently and plan to work and study under BU. 

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My two requests to Boston University both concern the capabilities of their university-specific information system to more fully accommodate their trans and non-binary students, staff, and faculty:

1) Allow "X", in addition to "M" and "F", to be recognized as a legal sex marker in university records, and

2) Allow trans and non-binary students to have their chosen names, if different from their legal names, to be added as a "nickname" in university records, official university correspondence such as emails from BU housing, BU dining, and on class rosters that instructors receive. This lessens the potential for students to out themselves as trans in unsafe environments, as well as reduces the discomfort and trauma associated with seeing their legal names/"deadnames" if different from their chosen name.