Letter to the Editor:
Bowen must understand discrimination before judging
Published March 12, 2009
I've read Marcus Bowen's recent Maneater column, and as a member of the Include Me MU team, I felt the need to clear the air. First, the bill that Missouri Students Association is working to pass is not simply to implement gender neutral bathrooms, nor is it simply about preferred e-mail names or names on class rosters. This bill does and always will rest on what all MU students, faculty and staff deserve -- respect and security. With an amendment to the anti-discrimination clause we ensure that no person affiliated with MU system, regardless of how they identify, will be discriminated against academically, socially, economically, etc., for any reason.
Let's be realistic, many people are confused and afraid of those who bend gender or the concepts thereof. I think many must ask themselves how comfortable they are with those individuals who do not fit society's "gender normative" ideologies. For those people, gender-neutral bathrooms are a way to avoid conflict yet maintain dignity and positive social interactions with their peers. You can't look at the issue from one side. Gender-neutral bathrooms are not a luxury, but a compromise. In a perfect world, it would not matter how one identified or expressed their gender and any bathroom they used would be fine. Still, this is not the mission of the proposed amendment. That being said, I ask that you, too, educate yourself on the real issue at hand and make the right decision when it is time to vote on the referendum. I am not here to judge or disrespect you.
While I do not know how you identify, as you speak from a position of privilege, I think it is difficult for you to understand the marginalization of members of a number of minority groups. Those who identify as transgender have experienced an over-abundant amount of discrimination and violence. The bottom line is that whether or not one agrees with the gender expression of individual one must respect them as they would any other individual, and the proposed amendment is the first step in ensuring, at least, a lawful respect for members of that community.
On that note, I'd like to address the radicalism you speak of. I stand by Phyllis Williams in her assertion that the aforementioned amendment is in no way radical. I think this nation will witness radicalism when gays can marry, when interracial dating doesn't cause one to take a second glance, when health care is free for all, when religion and politics stand separately, and when it doesn't matter if you come from the suburbs or the streets but a good education is available and accessible for everyone. I've been in Columbia for three years, and each year I get what I call a DWB -- Driving While Black. Little do the Columbia police know that I have a mother who works for the government of Indiana, a solid GPA, am a member of many organizations that do numerous community service activities in Columbia and have a clean record unless you count a speeding ticket or two over the course of my five years behind the wheel. In other words, I come from stereotypical and socially acceptable good stock, and I keep my nose clean. My only fault is being black. To be interrogated, followed home and have policemen shine lights into your car window as they ask you 20 questions like you're some kind criminal all because of your skin color is quite possibly one of the most disheartening and painful things to ever experience. My skin color is not something I can change, nor can a transgender individual "decide" to accept their biological sex.
When I can drive from the MU campus to my apartment next to the Columbia library and not get pulled over, I will know radicalism. I know discrimination all to well. I know the act of oppression by those in a position of power, and as a student on a campus that is less than 10 percent black; I know what it's like to lack a familial face and a secure place to identify at times as do all members of the LGBT community or any other minority community. Is that a familiar feeling for you? This anti-discrimination amendment might not mean much to you now, but I think if you step back you can and will see what it means to MU.
If you have any questions, Include Me MU is at your service, but for future reference, column or not, let's make sure we have all our facts straight before attacking an issue that is far bigger than the pen and paper it may be written on.
Yantézia Patrick
Gamma Rho Lambda, President
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