By Kelly McAnnany
I am writing this in response to Joe Bigda’s commentary in the last issue of The Northeastern News (June 25 “Seeking: Relevant topics”). He wrote in response to “Gender Issues” (May 28): “… this week’s edition takes the cake in regards to useless material. I mean no disrespect or insult to Jaxon White, but for the love of God do you really think Northeastern students care whether a ‘transgendered student’ can find adequate housing on campus? Not exactly front page material if you ask me … The News could have chosen any number of stories that would have been better suited for the front page, how about the baseball team winning the America East Tournament Championship … ”
The reason an article on a transgender student’s experience with discrimination in housing deserves to be front page news is precisely because of people like Bigda — individuals who express heterosexist/gender discriminatory opinions about issues for which they apparently have little knowledge or concern. The majority of students at NU are likely unaware of the enormous benefits they reap from society’s normalization of categories of sex and sexuality and have perhaps never been forced to contemplate the interpersonal, as well as systemic forms, of discrimination the queer community faces in every day interactions with institutions and individuals.
The NU housing policy is an example of the school normalizing heterosexuality, and marginalizing non-heterosexuality, by assuming all intimate relationships involve opposite-sex partners. While some may see the ability of same-sex couples to live together in on-campus housing as a benefit, it is clear that the mechanism by which this benefit is conferred is fraught with heterosexism.
I think Bigda illustrates perfectly the necessity of publishing an article like “Gender Issues” on the front page … until the very student majority of which he speaks who do not “care” (read: are not negatively affected in a direct way from heterosexism/gender discrimination in housing, employment, and education) are exposed to the obstacles that confront the queer community, they will never be part of institutional change leading to equality and respect for all people regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
Just last week the Supreme Court handed down the Lawrence v. Texas decision in which the state’s anti-sodomy law was struck down as unconstitutional. The court held that the statute violated an individual’s liberty interest under the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. Through this court decision, the queer community won a crucial battle to obtain the respect and recognition that it deserved; however, there remain many battles ahead in order to win full equality within our society.
In our own community here at Northeastern, progress has also been made with respect to queer equality. In recent years, the Northeastern University School of Law extended its official anti-discrimination policy to include “harassment or discrimination based on gender identity or expression.” The time has come for the larger university to adopt this transgender-friendly language within its own policy and further its commitment to equality by recognizing the discriminatory logic of its housing policy for all members of the queer community.
For what it’s worth, I think it’s obvious from glancing through any newspaper, be it the Boston Globe or The Northeastern News, that every day is sport’s day in American headlines. I think there is room every once in a while for articles publicizing discrimination and calling for equality to be legitimized as “front page material.”
— Kelly McAnnany is a second year law student at Northeastern.
