NEWS
12 May 2015

Intersex And Transgender Students Left Behind At Australian Universities

By Max Chalmers
Keywords: 
lgbti
higher education
tim wilson

“It’s a lot better but it’s not ok”. That’s how one activist has described the on-campus experiences of LGBTI students as a new survey reveals which universities are doing better than others. Max Chalmers reports.

A survey of Australian universities has found mixed levels of anti-discrimination policy are in place and that only one in five campuses has kept pace with Federal protections for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) people.

The Australian LGBTI University Guide, launched last night, assesses and compares universities across the country by examining welfare policies, social programs, and anti-discrimination rules they have to assist LGBTI students.

Justin Koonin, convenor or the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, said universities have made progress in recent years, but that the majority have fallen behind federal standards.

“I think they’re just slow, they just don’t realise the law has changed,” Koonin said.

“The responses by universities are very mixed. Some of them are doing very well, some of them, not surprisingly, are doing very badly.

“As a whole the universities are probably slightly behind where the UK is – even the best universities are behind.”

In 2013 Australia’s sex discrimination laws were updated to extend protections to people with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity, and people who are intersex.

Koonin said a group of about six or seven universities were doing better than the rest, pointing to Curtin, La Trobe, Queensland University of Technology, University of Queensland, University of Sydney, and the UNSW as examples.

Curtin, for example, has an ‘engineering ally’ program which pairs students with LGBTI friendly workplaces, while the University of Queensland has a scholarship for LGBTI students.

A number of campuses have installed gender neutral toilets.

The university guide – which was put together by a number of LGBTI organisations – does not explicitly rank universities, but reveals a general failing across the board in certain areas, including assistance and protections for intersex and transgender students.

Koonin said this reflected a broader society-wide trend, and that there was generally less awareness of the distinct issues faced by transgender and intersex people.

Anti-discrimination and awareness training for staff was also poor across the board, with only one out of three universities requiring mandatory training.

Koonin said having such procedures made everyday differences for LGBTI students.

“It’s often the little things. It means they’re not alone. It might mean a staff member has an ally sticker because they show support. It might mean that if someone makes a homophobic comment there is someone else to stand up for them.”

The guide was designed to help prospective students evaluate which campuses would be safest and most accommodating for them.

Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson, who hosted the launch event last night, reiterated Koonin’s comments, and said universities were not doing as much for transgender and intersex students.

“Ensuring university is a safe and inclusive environment is extremely important for LGBTI students who have often spent years in secondary school fearful of acceptance from their family and peers if they ‘come out’,” he said in a statement.

“University is often the first place that LGBTI students feel they can be themselves.”

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fightmumma
Posted Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - 08:21

What are these people expecting universities to "do" for them?  There's critique about universities not "doing enough" but not much saying what they should be doing? 

bladeofgrass
Posted Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - 22:18

What utter, utter rubbish. "Gender neutral" toilets? This is a societal cancer. If I was a lecturer I would consider resigning rather than put up with one second of this precious, narcissistic, self-centred nonsense.

Bluebec
Posted Thursday, May 14, 2015 - 08:52

Oh Hai fightmumma and bladeofgrass, nice to see you here commenting on things you appear to not understand fully.

A) What should universities do "for them"?  Well the whole point of the article is that universities are NOT creating a safe learning environment for LGBTIQ students.  A safe learning environment would be one where regardless of a students sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status, they feel safe studying knowing that they won't face discrimination or violence for being themselves.  We don't tolerate universities being racist or sexist, so we shouldn't tolerate universities being homophobic, biphobic, transphobic or intersexist.  Just having robust policies and ensuring that your staff are educated on how to be inclusive and how to shot down queerphobic comments makes a HUGE difference.

B) So I'm guessing that bladeofgrass has gender specific toilets in their house and enforces the outdated idea that gender is a binary in their house too.  If you're assigned female, then you can only use one of the toilets in bladeofgrass's house, if you're assigned male, then the other.  Gender neutral toilets just mean that anyone can use that space, that it is not dedicated to one gender.  This shouldn't be a hard thing to grasp, it shouldn't be so shocking that people might actually feel more comfortable in a unisex space, particularly if they are questioning who they are and what gender they are. 

Australia's LGBTIQ population faces huge mental health issues because of the treatment we receive instutiontally and individually from organisations and people who are unintentionally or intentionally queerphobic.  Working on making the world a safer space helps reduce this mental health burden and will help on reducing the suicide risk of LGBTIQ people.  This is why this stuff is important.

ZoeBrain
Posted Thursday, May 14, 2015 - 18:17

bladeofgrass - and if I were in Uni admin, I'd accept your resignation. Instantly. Before you had a chance to change your mind.

One former student at (major university) I know is 47,XXY. Intersex. Moreover, unlike most Intersex people, they identify as neither M nor F. And unlike most 47,XXY people, they don't look male, but somewhat "in-between".

This ex-student was taking a psych course. The lecturer required students to take part in an experiment (something forbidden by the guide on ethics in human experimentation - request is fine, compulsion like this right out).

Moreover, the experiment required the student to answer "Male or Female (tick one)"

Neither answer was appropriate. The ex-student remonstrated with the lecturer - who is supposed to be an expert on sex remember - and the lecturer said "answer correctly, or you fail the course".

Which is why this person is a former student.

This is the kind of crap that must cease. People like you are part of the precipitate, not part of the solution.

fightmumma
Posted Sunday, May 17, 2015 - 17:08

bluebec - not sure if I detect a himt of sarcasm in your comment - I suppose it is self-evident that I do not understand seeing as my entire post was questions, to help me understand. Duh!

Universities are certainly not singling out particular groups to refrain from acting on discrimination - I think they don't give a damn no matter what your particularity in need is.  

I have been discriminated against due to mental health issues and a lecturer not wanting to give me special consideration.

Universities are not all touchyfeely nice places - they are a business, in the business of selling Degrees.  Economic rationalism, inverted totalitarianism (that's where the accountants have all the power), business models - these have all ripped apart any chance of achieving equality and social justice in the tertiary setting.  Most places now use sessional tutors, so there is no consistent person around to rely on - one of my lecturers is so overworked and not given enough hours that she' not even answering emails for over a week, and not attending to important weekly topics.  How is that person gonna be able to pursue injustices and discrimination?

I have personally HEARD with my own ears people being racist right in the same room as African students.  I have heard someone overtly being aggressive about mental illness in a counselling class would you believe.  I raised one of those issues with the above lecturer and nothing at all happened - not enough time, and they prioritise tasks, so something like social justice (in the "too hard" basket no doubt) won't even raise a blip on the radar.

Not sayin' that that's OK, just sayin' universities are f*cked so I wouldn't be expecting anything great from them - unrealistic expectations lead to disappointment...

I am on the verge of openly saying something in one of my classes due to the overt  obnoxiousness and rudeness of a handful of students (it's amazing how bold they get in little groups with their group think happening - or maybe group "unthink"!!) - and will run the risk, no doubt - of ME being the one who gets into trouble!

And might I add - that I believe this model of management is designed to remove mechanisms of democracy and addressing social justice and fairness, it is part of deregulation, it is part of maintaining the status quo, it is a direct tool for conservatives to put a stop to progressive policies even in organisations or agencies that have justice as a professional value .  It stops progressive ideas by damaging the connections and dynamics that occur between people, if they remove people with progressive values and long term experience and if they block the development of consistent high quality relationships from an institution, it becomes easier to control a population.  You get "drone in - drone out" type thing happening.  And how sad is that in a place of "higher" learning?  Not so high I suggest!

fightmumma
Posted Sunday, May 17, 2015 - 17:02

Zoe - that's just so wrong. Legal action?

Catherine08
Posted Thursday, August 13, 2015 - 22:55

I stand for equal treatment for any person whether he/she is straight or not. The only criteria students should be judged is their knowledge. I really hope that soon we'll be living in the society with no place for a prejudice. I faced with intolerance in the college while I've been working on my sociology project and with http://essaywriting.education/blog/'s help I managed to write an article that changed minds a lot of people.