New Delhi: NALSAR, Hyderabad has begun to create a safe space for the trans students by including gender-neutral space as a part of its very first trans policy.
NALSAR took this welcoming initiative seven years after it first provided a gender-neutral graduation certificate to its one student on request.
Speaking about this step, the Vice-Chancellor Faizan Mustafa said that the institute is aiming towards creation of a safe campus for all the students without any discrimination. The ground floor of the GH-6 building has been designated as a gender-neutral space. The rooms are allotted to the self-identifying LGBTQ+ community students.
We are pleased to share that in our endeavour to make our campus a truly inclusive space, the ground floor of GH-6 has been designated as a gender neutral space with rooms allotted to students self-identifying as members of the LGBTQ+ community, with plans to move towards a pic.twitter.com/163JeSGQ99
— NALSAR University of Law (@NALSAR_Official) March 26, 2022
The future plan is to develop a gender-neutral hostel as well. The academic block’s ground floor washroom is also gender-neutral.
In June, 2015, a BA LLB student requested not to be identified by gender in the institute certificate. The university accepted the request and used ‘Mx”- the neutral prefix. Since then the institute has been trying to make it safe and acceptable to all students.
“We have requested students to identify themselves and based on their preference, we are creating safe and inclusive spaces for everyone. As per the trans policy that we are adopting, there will be more changes on the campus,” as explained by Dr. Mustafa.
NALSAR “Policy on Inclusive Education for Gender and Sexual Minorities”: Highlights
The Trans Policy Committee of the institute has already drafted the “Policy on Inclusive Education for Gender and Sexual Minorities”. Here are a few highlights from the drafted policy:
- As per the policy, for the purpose of self-identification, students will just need to write a self-attested declaration. That will be considered the basis for gender identity recognition
- The policy also suggests that gender in the official records should be independent of the applicants’ honorific titles in the legal documents
- No documents will assign any gender identity to the students
- Students can change the name and pronoun regardless of one’s declared gender identity
- Self-identified gender identity and sexual orientation will form the basis for all entitlements that results from the policy such as hostel accommodation, right to file cases of discrimination
- No member of this community shall be outed without their exclusive consent to a third party including guardians or parents
- Each student, including transgender ones, will be accommodated in hostels for boys or girls or soon to develop gender-neutral hostels on the basis of their self-identification
- There will be gender-neutral washrooms
- Persons from the minority community will have the same right to access any space as their cisgender fellows without any restriction
- The university will also support the students who are in the middle of the medically transitioning process. Support will include medical aids (injections, hormone pills, etc.), reasonable accommodations, etc.
Read More:
- Madras University to Reserve 1 UG Seat for Transgender Students in Each College from 2022
- IIT Madras Takes Initiative to Reduce Gender Data Gap in Digital Sources
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