UCLA Considering Controversial Co-Ed Dorms for Transgender Students
UCLA is considering setting up co-ed dorm rooms to accommodate transgender students, it has been reported.
The move is intended to make transgender students more comfortable, Office of Residential Life director Suzanne Seplow said.
"Given that most of our housing systems are structured under the concept of a binary gender – that there's male or female – for folks that don't fit into those categories, finding housing is challenging," Seplow said, according to the Associated Press.
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Seplow also made it clear that UCLA students won't be coerced into living with a member of the opposite gender.
Student council members recommended the policy and it could be put in effect as soon as next fall.
According to Seplow, there are a handful of transgender students who could benefit from the policy by living with someone of the gender they're transitioning to.
Suandra Albers, a freshman, seemed to have no problem with the idea of co-ed living.
"I think you should be able to live however you want, as long as you are not infracting on the rights of others," she said.
However, some students are not so keen on the idea.
"I'm pretty sure parents don't want their children rooming with cross-gender or trans-genders, maybe, or boys and girls rooming together," said student Cristal Alba, according to NBC Los Angeles. "I don't think it'll go through."
The policy has not been finalized. Seplow stated that the policy is not meant to accommodate heterosexual couples in the dorms.
