I have found myself in a very hard place. Please bear with me a little, as the story is a long one. Last spring, I started taking a men's weight training course at my university. Naturally, I used the men's locker to change and shower. I liked the course so much that I took it again this fall. Halfway through the semester, the university told me that I could no longer use the locker room and that I could use a tiny coach's locker room if I didn't want to use the women's room.
I agreed to this temporarily, giving them time to find a reason why they could do that. They couldn't find one. Meanwhile, I discovered that this was in violation of federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws. . . and the University's own anti-discrimination policy. When I informed them of this, they basically said that they didn't care. That adds official oppression to their discrimination.
They did tell me that if I could get my University records changed, I could use the men's locker again. So I talked to the registrar and they told me they wouldn't do it without a birth certificate. To get an amended birth certificate in my state requires an SRS letter. Obviously, not a workable solution. University policy allows the registrar to reject requests for record change if it believes the records are "correct". So. . . they believe they have the right to determine what my "correct" gender is.
Fed up this this, I told them I would be returning to the men's locker room. I did so:
Week one: nothing. No acknowledgement of my actions at all.
Week two: nothing. I get a letter to the editor published in the school paper about it.
Week three: The paper publishes a damning feature article about it, quoting correspondence with the university in which I called their actions criminal and trans advocates, saying that what they did was wrong. The very day the article is published, the university sends security to forbid me from using the locker again and inform me of disciplinary proceedings and criminal charges filed against me. This adds retaliation to their list of crimes. The people involved are quickly working their way from misdemeanor with minor penalty to felony with serious jail time.
While some students are resolutely behind me, most, even the ones who have every reason to be on my side, are ambivalent or openly antagonistic.
When I go to change next week, I will almost certainly be arrested. I am scared but determined. So I turn to the community which has helped me through all my past hurdles on the road of transition to feel a little less alone in the world.
Oddly, through all of this, they haven't challenged my right to use the men's bathrooms! Weird.
Thanks for listening, guys (and gals).
Originally Posted by 4serrus
