The world of higher education is a prime context for shaping the next generation, and a look at developments on America's elite campuses reveals a social revolution in the making. In moral terms, we are looking at chaos in the academy.
Prime evidence for this diagnosis comes in the form of a study conducted earlier this year at Harvard University. The Harvard Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance [BGLTSA] studied the university's restroom facilities, looking for "gender-neutral" access for transgender or "gender-variant" students and faculty.
The BGLTSA took the issue seriously, focusing particularly on bathrooms in the university's residential houses and dormitories. As defined in their study, "A gender non-specific bathroom does not specify a gender in any way, or clearly lists both of the leading genders." As the group explained, "The project serves to identify the location of bathrooms that are gender non-specific and to gather data about certain areas of the undergraduate campus that are lacking gender non-specific bathrooms."
Of course, the phrase "leading genders" tells us a great deal about this group and its worldview. When male and female are reduced to designation as "the leading genders," moral insanity is right at hand.
The Harvard BGLTSA declared its manifesto in the report. "Everyone has the right to use the bathroom without fear! Besides reinforcing gender norms, bathrooms that are clearly marked as male/female force many individuals to enter bathroom environments that they consider uncomfortable and unsafe. People face discrimination daily for entering marked bathrooms containing other individuals who perceive their gender to be variant from the social norm. Increasing awareness and identifying the locations of gender-safe bathrooms will prevent people from being threatened by violence and harassment."
If that statement makes sense to you, you are in big trouble. When the group refers to "individuals who perceive their gender to be variant from the social norm," they refer to the fact that some women are offended when male transsexuals enter their bathroom. Surprised? The problem, the BGLTSA insists, is with the heterosexual individual who would be offended, not with the offender.
The group's report detailed the presence or absence of "gender-safe bathrooms" in each facility. It also provided detailed instructions concerning the location of gender-neutral facilities. In Cabot House, for example, one gender-neutral facility could be found by following these instructions: "Go upstairs and turn left. On the right there is an unmarked door across from the Senior tutor suite." Now you know.
The editors of The Harvard Crimson, the university's daily newspaper, were thoroughly in favor of the call for gender-neutral bathroom facilities. "The recent College-wide survey of bathrooms, conducted by the Harvard Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance, brought to light an easily trivialized--yet easily solved--issue regarding gender-specific single-occupancy bathrooms. Having located 24 single-stall facilities specifically assigned to either men or women, the group is calling for administrators and House Masters to alter the existent labeling to accommodate both genders and guarantee that all future Harvard buildings will be designed with at least one gender-neutral bathroom."
As the editors noted, "The change will likely not affect the vast majority of Harvard students, but that does not mean that it's not one worth making. While the difference would be minor to most, the comfort conferred to transgender or gender-variant students and faculty could be great."
The campaign to create additional gender-neutral bathrooms was justified, the editors argued, because of "the severity of the problems potentially faced by avoiding bathroom breaks."
The Harvard BGLTSA employed tactics and rhetoric the Crimson's editors recognized as sensational and "ridiculous." But the editors argued that "the issue is not the BGLTSA's methods of bringing attention to this problem; rather, the fact remains that there are some in the Harvard community that experience extreme discomfort and pressure when going to the bathroom."
