{"id":23437,"date":"2023-01-10T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T17:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=23437"},"modified":"2023-01-10T09:36:41","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T17:36:41","slug":"open-space-camosun-has-a-long-way-to-go-before-being-truly-gender-inclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2023\/01\/10\/open-space-camosun-has-a-long-way-to-go-before-being-truly-gender-inclusive\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Space<\/em>: Camosun has a long way to go before being truly gender inclusive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Camosun often boasts that it is progressive as far as inclusion and diversity goes. Camosun\u2019s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion policy states that \u201cInclusion is the process through which we build a community where the diversity of human experiences, perspectives, and identities is recognized and respected. Inclusion fosters belonging. It affords everyone the right to participate and strengthen the collective well-being of our communities.\u201d Sounds good, but this broad definition doesn\u2019t define direct initiatives or detail how exactly the college will foster their values.<\/p>\n

When I was fresh out of a private Christian school, I felt that Camosun was inclusive by comparison. I was impressed that each student\u2019s pronouns were asked for along with their names. My standards weren\u2019t high, considering that at the time I was fresh out of an institution that normalized gender-based violence and discrimination. Also, I wasn\u2019t as educated on gender-based prejudice as I am now. I didn\u2019t realize at the time that it was wrong for my professor to say, \u201cIf I can\u2019t tell what your pronouns are from looking at you, put up your hand and let me know.\u201d (No student raised their hand.)<\/p>\n

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This story originally appeared in our January 9, 2023 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although the LGBTQ2S+ community has gained more widespread acceptance since the legalization of same-sex marriage in July 2005, that doesn\u2019t mean the general population doesn\u2019t have internalized prejudices. Historically, media has often skewed LGBTQ2S+ and transgender individuals as the butt of the joke . The general population internalizes these prejudices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Students may be cautious giving their pronouns to professors, as they are putting themselves in a vulnerable position. Additionally, asking professors to include their pronouns on their syllabus doesn\u2019t guarantee that they\u2019ll remember and respect students\u2019 pronouns. \u201cSlip-ups\u201d are a common occurrence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An inclusive environment is necessary to foster egalitarianism in an educational setting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, transgender individuals whose appearance doesn\u2019t fit into the traditional gender binary are at risk for questioning by self-appointed bathroom police. This fear of interrogation may cause transgender individuals to not be comfortable or feel safe using the binary washroom options.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gender-neutral washrooms also aren\u2019t available in every building. When there is an all-gender washroom in a building, the wait time to use it is often very long due to cisgender students using them to vape, go to the washroom privately, or just get some personal space. I have friends who\u2019ve had to wait upward of 20 minutes to use the washroom, just to have someone walk out scrolling through something on their phone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, the number of gender-neutral bathrooms that are available doesn\u2019t reflect the amount of students who use them. Camosun loves to brag that it is focused on inclusion, yet these claims ring hollow when students have to search to find a universal washroom. Then, once finding the washroom, it may not have a working lock or be out of sanitary supplies, such as toilet paper, which both myself and friends have seen in the Wilna Thomas Building.<\/p>\n

The lack of respect to people outside the gender binary is evident in the lack of care put into keeping gender-neutral washrooms hygienic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The college has made efforts toward inclusion, but there\u2019s still a long way to go before gender-based discrimination is eradicated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Camosun often boasts that it is progressive as far as inclusion and diversity goes. Camosun\u2019s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion policy states that \u201cInclusion is the process through which we build a community where the diversity of human experiences, perspectives, and identities is recognized and respected. Inclusion fosters belonging. It affords everyone the right to participate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,280],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-views","category-january-9-2023"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23437"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23438,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23437\/revisions\/23438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}