Author: m.markowicz

TKTK a good lede

In the past several months, Baruch’s LGBT community has been advocating for the creation of a gender neutral bathroom on campus. After months of spreading information and raising awareness about the issue, the Baruch administration made no progress toward appeasing the group.

TKTK a really good quote

According to Gabe Roman, the president of G.L.A.S.S., the idea of a gender neutral bathroom was only a thought when she entered Baruch as a freshman three years ago. The LGBT community truly began its initiative in the Spring semester, when it tabled on the second floor and made an effort to educate the passers-by on the issue.

By the end of the semester, the club gathered roughly 200 signatures on a petition supporting the creation of a gender neutral bathroom, along with some donations to strengthen the cause. G.L.A.S.S. also created a YouTube video, titled Case for Gender Neutral Bathrooms at Baruch College, which aimed to explain some of the most common questions about the creation of a gender neutral bathroom. By Sept. 19, the video collected 440 views.

“The students behind the campaign know that not everyone in the world is tolerant,” Roman said. “We want to figure out if there is a way for us to protect the genderless bathroom, whether through training security to be sensitive to the issue, or having an educational video about what the bathroom is.”

I was able to conduct a longer interview with Gabe Roman. I also know who to reach out to from the administration and I’m in touch with the USG president who should help me find out why the idea of a gender neutral bathroom was previously shut down.

For this news pitch, I wanted to talk about gender neutral bathrooms in Baruch. With the nationwide push to let transgender students access bathrooms of their choice and a New York-wide ad campaign promoting uninhibited bathroom access, the LGBTQ community at Baruch pushed to have a gender neutral bathroom on the third floor.

According to members of G.L.A.S.S.—short for Gender, Love and Sexuality Spectrum—last year’s executive board of the club pushed for an effort to create a gender neutral bathroom at Baruch, but the college’s administration blocked their efforts because of various technical factors and what G.L.A.S.S. members described as “bigoted ideology.”

For this interview, I have reached out to Gabe Roman, the current president of G.L.A.S.S. They served as the club’s creative director when the push for gender neutral bathroom took place. I am currently scheduling an interview with them, and later plan to speak to other members of the administration mentioned in their interview.