Photo by journalismthatmatters
A group of activists at George Washington University is concerned that a campaign to raise awareness about violence against transgender people is being snubbed out because of a campus policy about the placement of fliers.
The GW Graduate Feminists has been attempting to post signs in bathrooms around campus warning against the harassment transgender people often report experiencing when using gender-specific restrooms. But to the group’s consternation, campus officials have said fliers are not permitted to be mounted in the bathrooms inside the Marvin Center, GWU’s student center at 21st and I streets NW.
Elizabeth Owens, a member of the Graduate Feminists, told DCist that given the subject matter, it would have made sense for administrators to bend the rules and allow signs warning against violence in restrooms to be mounted inside restrooms. Instead, according to an email from a university employee that was forwarded to DCist, fliers are only allowed near the Marvin Center’s elevator banks.
But given recent violent crimes around D.C. in which transgender people have been assaulted and killed, Owens feels that there ought not to be such a limitation on where precaution can be advised.
“In the context of the violence that is going on in the D.C. area and a perception that trans issues are not being highlighted—even within the LGBT community—we saw a need to bring offer some resources,” she said in a phone interview.
Owens’ fliers implore bathroom visitors to give transgender people as much privacy as they would expect from themselves. “Let transgender folk pee in the restrooms we feel safest in,” some of the notices read. The fliers also cite a 2009 survey taken by the D.C. Trans Coalition reporting that 70 percent of transgender people interviewed reported being either harassed or assaulted while using a gender-specific bathroom. These trends, the Trans Coalition’s report said, can lead to a withdrawal from public life, deeply affecting a person’s education, employment and health.
Check out one of the fliers below:
