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College Offers TG Housing
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: May 21, 2003 6:31 p.m. ET
(Middletown, Connecticut) This fall Wesleyan University will become the first American college to offer transgender students specialized housing. A number of universities already have gay and lesbian housing, but it is believed this is the first time transgender students will be given their own space.
Transgender students in the freshman freshman class will have the option of living in the new "gender-blind" facility, one floor of a dormitory for students who don't want to be categorized as one gender or another.
The university has adopted a new mission statement says freshmen who choose to live in the gender-blind area "will be assigned a roommate without the consideration of gender."
Mike Whaley, dean of student services, said the move came at the urging of students who feel the university needed to do more to accommodate the living needs of transgender students.
Whaley estimates there are 12 to 15 transgender students on campus. He said in the past some students who are transitioning have been placed with roommates that resulted in "uncomfortable situations" for the TG student.
Capacity of the gender-blind hall was kept to 12 because there's no way to tell how many students are going to opt for it. Whaley said it would be expanded as the need arose.
Wesleyan has a reputation for liberal attitudes in both the way it treats its students and the courses it offers. It annually holds a gay prom and its syllabus offers a course on pornography.
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