If a Santa Fe College student needs to use the bathroom, there are two options: male or female.
If students identify as both, or look like one but identify as the other, they face difficult decisions — and possible harassment from other students.
SFC Faculty Senate voted to change that Tuesday, with a 27-0 consensus in favor of a resolution that expands the college’s anti-discrimination regulations to include members of the LGBTQ community.
“If we have it on paper, we can set a precedent,” said student Sen. Wallace Mazon, who authored the resolution. “We can take action to swoop down on this harassment.”
Mazon said the issue surfaced after a recent harassment incident in which a student was followed off campus to Publix being heckled for using the “wrong” bathroom in the SFC cafeteria.
The resolution would add sexual identity, gender identity and gender expression to the list of protections offered by College Rule 2.8, SFC’s nondiscrimination and harassment policy.
“This was a battle that was won today — an important battle,” said George Briggs, senator for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. “I’ve been through this in the past, supporting this resolution the past two times it’s come through the Faculty Senate floor. We have a tough battle in Career Service Council, but I believe we can win it.”
Although the Faculty Senate approved the rule’s expansion, there are three governing bodies that oversee SFC: the Student Senate, Faculty Senate and the Career Service Council.
According to Student Senate members, SFC President Jackson Sasser needs all three bodies to be in agreement before he will take a side on a controversial issue.
The past two times, the Career Service Council has put the brakes on the resolution.
“In the past, there have been individuals who have cited personal judgments, and personal judgments have stood in the way of progress,” said Student Senate President Jeremy Pierce, who presented the issue to about 40 faculty members at Tuesday’s meeting. “We hope that this time around folks won’t interject their personal judgments but do what’s good for all of the students.”
At UF, a similar code already exists.
The UF Non-Discrimination Policy states that the university is “committed to non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations, genetic information and veteran status.”
But Pierce said “personal politics and legal issues” are what’s holding SFC back.
He continued: “I feel like it will pass (the Career Services Council) because leadership is different. Santa Fe is moving in the direction of a more diverse college.”
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 4/23/2014 under the headline "SFC LGBTQ rule up for approval again"]
