Transgender students' sense of safety and belonging at Montclair State
Presentation Type
Abstract
Faculty Advisor
Elaine Gerber
Access Type
Event
Start Date
25-4-2025 12:00 PM
End Date
25-4-2025 1:00 PM
Description
Transgender bathroom access has increasingly been an issue in legislation and people’s everyday lives across the United States. Within the past three decades, the influx of anti-discrimination laws that protect transgender people have turned public bathrooms into a space for political crossfire. However, bathroom panic is nothing new, as similarly restrictive, segregated laws have previously targeted Black Americans and disabled Americans. State governments have steadily enacted detrimental bills to restrict bathroom access for transgender Americans today, in what’s termed as “bathroom policing.” The purpose of this research is to observe perceptions of safety and belonging for transgender students at Montclair State University and how policing bathroom access on campus facilitates inclusion or exclusion. This research involved in-depth qualitative interviews with transgender students at MSU of any age (n=18), visual data collection of bathrooms on campus, and participant observation of trans students’ lived experiences. Additionally, as a member of the transgender community at MSU, I was able to access this community and build trust with participants, enabling them to disclose very personal experiences and contribute to highly valid findings. In conclusion, participants felt uncomfortable, unsafe, anxious or paranoid, and/or wished to be alone when using a public bathroom on campus. Overall, the participants believed there should be more gender neutral bathrooms on campus, and they were able to easily describe how it would directly benefit students. This project also identified additional questions for future research related to the diverse experiences and identities of the trans community.
Transgender students' sense of safety and belonging at Montclair State
Transgender bathroom access has increasingly been an issue in legislation and people’s everyday lives across the United States. Within the past three decades, the influx of anti-discrimination laws that protect transgender people have turned public bathrooms into a space for political crossfire. However, bathroom panic is nothing new, as similarly restrictive, segregated laws have previously targeted Black Americans and disabled Americans. State governments have steadily enacted detrimental bills to restrict bathroom access for transgender Americans today, in what’s termed as “bathroom policing.” The purpose of this research is to observe perceptions of safety and belonging for transgender students at Montclair State University and how policing bathroom access on campus facilitates inclusion or exclusion. This research involved in-depth qualitative interviews with transgender students at MSU of any age (n=18), visual data collection of bathrooms on campus, and participant observation of trans students’ lived experiences. Additionally, as a member of the transgender community at MSU, I was able to access this community and build trust with participants, enabling them to disclose very personal experiences and contribute to highly valid findings. In conclusion, participants felt uncomfortable, unsafe, anxious or paranoid, and/or wished to be alone when using a public bathroom on campus. Overall, the participants believed there should be more gender neutral bathrooms on campus, and they were able to easily describe how it would directly benefit students. This project also identified additional questions for future research related to the diverse experiences and identities of the trans community.
Comments
Poster presentation at the 2025 Student Research Symposium.