Staff Editorial: A major step forward

When the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center opened its Spruce Street doors last fall, it served as a major statement for this community. It showed that the University was dedicated to providing arenas where all students on this campus would feel comfortable expressing themselves. Now, Penn administrators have announced plans to take another positive step for the good of the entire community. On Wednesday, the University Council endorsed an amendment to Penn's non-discrimination policy that would protect students, faculty and staff from being discriminated against based on their gender identity. While this measure may appear to be largely symbolic in nature, it would be an extremely significant amendment. Gender identity expression -- specifically, transgender issues -- is an area that is widely misunderstood on a national level, one that deserves a great deal more attention than it receives. With this amendment, Penn would become only the third university to adopt a policy with regard to gender identity. It would, however, be one step behind the city of Philadelphia, which amended its own Fair Practices Code in 2001 to prohibit such discrimination. And although it may not affect many members of the community, this amendment would go a long way toward helping a group of people that University Chaplain William Gipson says have been "marginalized" feel more accepted on this campus. There are practicality issues that must be worked out before this amendment can officially be adopted. But it would behoove the University to work out these issues as quickly as possible. This is an opportunity for Penn to prove once again that it is at the forefront of diversity issues in higher education and that it takes the concerns of its students very seriously. We strongly encourage the University to take the necessary steps to adopt this amendment. It is crucial that we make these "marginalized" members of our community feel more at home.

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