this 
argument, 
studies 
suggest 

transgender individuals are more 
likely to be at risk while using public 
restrooms than those around them.

Despite the anti transgender-

rights rhetoric employed by some 
Republican legislators in Lansing, 
the University of Michigan provides 
a variety of accommodations for 
transgender 
students, 
including 

gender-inclusive housing and gender-
inclusive bathroom facilities. Gender-
inclusive housing involves either 
a room with a private bathroom 
or a room in proximity to gender-
inclusive bathroom facilities. Nearly 
all residence halls offer some sort 
of gender-inclusive facility. Gender 
inclusive facilities are open to all 
students who wish to use a private 
bathroom.

Kaufman said she was previously 

not permitted to use the women’s 
restroom facilities at the University, 
and often had to travel inconvenient 
distances to find gender-neutral 
facilities. However, the University 
has since changed that policy, 
and Kaufman said she no longer 
encounters the same restrictions.

Kaufman added that she has not 

had issues with the University’s 
policies in general, but that she 
believes the administration could 
go further in actively protecting 
transgender students rights.

“The University is one of the most 

liberal institutions in the country, so 
there aren’t really any problematic 
regulations that I’m aware of that 
exist anymore,” she said. “There’s 
more things that could be done to 
protect LGBT, particularly trans 
people, that the University could be 
doing.”

The University also offers a 

preferred name policy, which allows 

all students to change the name they 
wish to appear in the University 
directory. In April, Wolverines for 
Preferred Pronouns started a petition 
to 
additionally 
allow 
students’ 

preferred pronouns to appear on 
class rosters. As of Wednesday, the 
online petition has 788 signatures.

Kaufman said the University 

community 
has 
generally 
been 

welcoming to her, but she considers 
herself 
cis-passing 
— 
meaning, 

despite 
being 
a 
transgender 

woman, she appears to be a non-
transgender woman — which she 
believes contributes to the absence of 
harassment that many transgender 
individuals encounter.

“Generally, the reactions I’ve 

received have been very positive, 
but the circles I’m in are very liberal 
and accepting,” she said. “Now 
when I interact with people they 
don’t know that I’m trans a lot of 
the time, so I don’t really deal with 
that transphobia. It’s a unique thing 
because of the way I’m perceived by 
people. I don’t deal with a lot of the 
issues that trans women deal with.”

Despite 
the 
positive 
campus 

community, Kaufman cited instances 
of harassment on her social media 
accounts, saying she has drawn 
hostile online attention due to her 
visible activism. She said she also 
received a plethora of negative 
reactions 
from 
people 
walking 

past her as she participated in a 
demonstration where she held a sign 
identifying herself as a transgender 
woman.

Kaufman additionally referenced 

a need for normalizing transgender 
participation in sororities to help 
support the idea that transgender 
women are just like other women. 
Kaufman said she attempted to rush 
at the University, but she did not 
receive any bids.

Ann Arbor Public Schools
Locally, 
Ann 
Arbor 
Public 

Schools has been working for years 
to ensure a safe environment for its 
transgender 
students. 
According 

to Deb Mexicotte, president of the 
Ann Arbor Public Schools Board, the 
protection of students is based off of 
its own non-discrimination policy, 
which aims to protect all students 
from any form of discrimination.

Mexicotte 
said 
there 
is 

no 
specific 
policy 
directed 
at 

protecting 
transgender 
students, 

and the implementation of the 
non-discrimination 
policy 
varies 

from school to school. However, 
during Mexicotte’s tenure on the 
board, there have been no issues or 
complaints regarding the safety of 
transgender students that have come 
to her attention.

Mexicotte said she is proud of the 

work the district has done to ensure a 
positive learning environment for all 
students.

“One of the things I’m proud of in 

our community is that we try to do 
the right thing for our students, our 
staff and our community without 
being mandated to do so,” she said. 
“We are very cognizant of our role 
in creating that safe and welcoming 
educational environment.”

Mexicotte also indicated that any 

federal ordinance is always helpful 
in implementing policy and ensuring 
student protection, but that it’s yet 
to be determined whether or not the 
recent announcement will lead to 
any policy changes or new policy in 
AAPS.

The State of Michigan
On a state level, the battle 

for transgender rights has been 
much more contentious. The state 
legislature 
is 
currently 
under 

Republican control and Democrats 
complainof an inability to pass 
legislation they view as vital.

A proposed guidance issued by the 

Michigan Department of Education 
in February, advising schools to 

take 
action 
toward 
protecting 

LGBTQ students — particularly 
by highlighting the need to allow 
transgender students to use the 
restroom of their choice — drew ire 
from Republican legislators such 
as state Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R–
Canton).

“Our schools, our teachers, our 

administrators are on the frontline 
of a culture war in our society, and 
as their proponents push their social 
agenda into our classrooms, the 
quality of education our children 
receives suffers,” Colbeck proclaimed 
on the Senate floor on March 22, 
in response to a directive from the 
Michigan Board of Education calling 
for transgender students to be given 
access to the bathroom of their 
identity.

“Over 50 percent of our third 

graders can’t read, math proficiency 
for some schools hovers in the 
teens, and now we have these new 
guidelines that further divert our 
educators from their core mission — 
that of teaching our kids. It is time 
to take a stand against this social 
engineering,” Colbeck added.

State Rep. Jeff Irwin (D–Ann 

Arbor) said it is highly unlikely for 
the state to pass any legislation 
aimed at fighting discrimination 
against 
transgender 
individuals. 

He went on to reference a State Sen. 
Tom Casperson (R–Escanaba) who 
threatened to introduce a bill similar 
to the North Carolina bathroom bill, 
but it never actually came to fruition.

Because of this, Irwin said 

environment protections for students 
must come from individual districts.

“I think the progress is going 

to have to be school by school and 
community by community, rather 
than through the state legislature,” 
he said. “I don’t anticipate the state 
legislature doing something positive.”

In 
the 
state 
of 
Michigan, 

transgender 
students 
in 
K-12 

schooling 
reported 
rates 
of 

harassment at 84 percent, physical 
assault at 44 percent and sexual 
violence at 10 percent. Nine percent 
of the reported harassment was so 
severe that it led the individual to 
drop out of K-12 or higher education 
schooling, according to a report by 
the National Center for Transgender 
Equality and the National Gay and 
Lesbian Task Force.

Irwin does hope to see legislation 

addressing 
other 
concerns 
of 

transgender individuals, including 
a push to have hormone drugs used 
by people in transition covered by 
Medicaid and allowing transgender 
individuals to change the gender that 
appears on their state identification, 
both of which he cited as key issues 
for the transgender community.

Currently in Michigan, 19 percent 

of transgender individuals have been 
refused medical care due to their 
gender identity/expression, and 35 
percent reported postponed needed 
medical care when they were sick 
or injured due to discrimination, 
according to the NCTE and the 
NGLTF.

Kaufman also mentioned a general 

need in the transgender community 
for the protection of transgender 
women, 
specifically 
transgender 

women of color. According to the 
National Coalition of Anti-Violence 
Programs’ most recent report, nearly 
90 percent of LGBTQ homicide 
victims in 2013 were people of color, 
with 72 percent being transgender 
women and 67 percent transgender 
women of color.

Kaufman said any attempt to 

better the lives of these individuals 
is vital.

“Getting 
these 
women 
the 

resources they need and recognizing 
all the shit they have to deal with and 
trying to improve their lives in any 
way is very important,” Kaufman 
said.

Expires May 30, 2016

9

Thursday, May 19, 2016

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS

cost of college.

“I am confident that she will be 

able to (cut tuition), and there is a 
difference between an idealistic 
policy and a pragmatic policy 
position,” Sarkar said. “Hillary 
can make it more affordable and 
refinance student loans — that’s 
realistic, that’s something you can 
hold the president accountable for. 
Free college is not.”

Overall, Clinton’s plan is projected 

to cost about $350 billion over the 
course of 10 years, which Clinton 
has said she would raise by closing 
tax loopholes and expenditures for 

wealthy individuals. This includes 
grants the federal government 
would distribute to states that are 
able to commit and cut interest 
rates on loans.

Republicans

As the presumptive nominee, 

Trump is preparing to roll out a 
full-fledged platform on higher 
education. Sam Clovis, the co-chair 
and policy director of Trump’s 
campaign, outlined possible ideas 
and policies in an interview with 
Inside Higher Ed last week.

While Trump and his campaign 

staff have yet to lay out specific 
details, they are preparing for what 

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