Alice Vol. 2 No. 2

Depending on where a
transgender person is in
transitioning, choosing
which bathroom to use
can be a matter of
personal safety.
Finn said depending on where a
transgender person is in transitioning,
choosing which bathroom to use can
be a matter of personal safety. Gender-neutral
bathrooms, often labeled
as family bathrooms, can alleviate the
stress and safety concerns of choosing
which bathroom to use. However,
the state of Alabama currently has no
positive gender-neutral bathroom laws,
among other ways the state suppresses
the transgender community.
Finn said he honestly couldn’t think
of anything the state does to protect
the transgender community, wishing
officials would make it easier to change
gender registration.
According to the National Center for
Transgender Equality, to change your
name in Alabama, you have to submit
a petition to the probate court for a
name change order. To update your
name and gender on state identification,
you have to change your name
with the Social Security Administration
and then submit a court order for
a name change and documentation
signed by a surgeon verifying that
you’ve had gender reassignment surgery.
To update your birth certificate,
you need proof that you’ve had gender
reassignment surgery as well.
Since surgery is so expensive, many
transgender people will never change
their gender on their birth certificate
or Alabama identification, he said.
In addition, according to The University
of Alabama Registrar, in order
to change your gender with the university,
you also need a letter from a
doctor certifying that they performed
sexual reassignment surgery on you.
This can pose problems for students in
situations where their genders appear
in the University system.
Chris Bryant, interim director of
Media Relations at the university, said
on a class roster a pronoun and a preferred
first and last name is listed.
“So, on the class roster a student can
indicate their pronoun and the name
by which they wish to be identified,”
Bryant said.
Bryant also said a student’s photo
is available in the student information
system, for instructors and advisers to
look at.
However, Finn said he had a different
experience with photo and name
changes. Because he was not out his
freshman year of college, his original
university identification photo showed
him as a female and the system had
his birth name. It eventually became a
problem when school offices would not
accept his identification.
“They didn’t believe it,” he said. “I
had to show like five different cards
from my wallet, and each one had both
names. I was like, ‘I promise I’m me.’ ”
Lizzie Emerson of Safe Zone said one
of the major things universities can do
is to allow students to self identify on
all forms, giving the example of how
the student health center’s basic forms
are not gender inclusive.
“The first step is to know who they
are,” she said, adding that the university
can project an institutional show
of solidarity to make students feel
safer on campus.
“I think that’s been missing so far,”
she said.
At Safe Zone, they talk about allyship
as a verb instead of a noun. This
requires people to go beyond just
“Facebook activism” and help people
in their day-to-day lives.
“You act as an ally,” Walter said.
“You act in solidarity with. If you are
not a member of the community, it requires
deliberate action.”
Walter said if all the different advocacy
organizations came together and
recognized the intersectionality of all
these communities, that would make a
huge difference.
“If I’m an advocate for the LGBTQ
community, because there are LGBTQ
members of color, I also need to be an
advocate for Black Lives Matter,” he
said. “And because there are those who
identify as women within the LGBTQ
community, I also need to be a feminist.
Because there are LGBTQ folks
who use mobility devices, I also need
to be an advocate for Americans with
disabilities. If everyone recognized
that intersection, that you cannot have
social justice of whatever group you’re
interested in supporting without also
having social justice for those folks
who have the intersection of the identity
that you care about, if everyone
would recognize that, we’d win.” *
Alice Spring 2017 [61]