In January, Townhall reported how Ithaca College in New York will allow students who identify as "transgender" or "non-binary" to live in a separate residential community that excludes "cis-identifying students." This move was meant to create a "supportive community" for students who identify as LGBTQ+. Shortly after, reports broke that students at the all-women's Wellesley College voted to allow transgender and nonbinary individuals to apply to the school.
Now, another university announced that students who "misgender" a transgender student could face expulsion for doing so.
Students at the University of Oxford in England could be expelled for misgendering their peers under a new "transgender harassment policy."
Regent's Park College unveiled a new "trans inclusion statement" in an effort to combat "transphobia" on campus, according to The Telegraph:
The new policy says that “unlawful discriminatory behaviour, including transphobic harassment or bullying … will be regarded extremely seriously and could be grounds for disciplinary action”.
The statement lists examples of harassment, including “consistently using incorrect titles, pronouns or names to refer to a trans person (‘deadnaming’) especially where this causes distress”.
The college’s students are also banned from “unduly intrusive or personal questioning”, “making jokes about trans people or their trans status” and “denying or disputing the validity and/or existence of a trans person’s identity”.
Students found to have broken the policy may face “expulsion or dismissal”, the statement continued.
In addition, the college reportedly said that it believes "gender reassignment" is not an "exclusively medical" term and that it has "personal" dimensions.
"Individuals perceived as having the protected characteristic of gender reassignment (even incorrectly) are still afforded its protections," the statement said.
Last year, a teacher in Ireland was suspended from his job and jailed for contempt of court after he refused to address a transgender student by their "preferred pronouns," which Townhall covered.
Reportedly, Burke, who teaches history, politics and German, refused to address a "transgender" student as "they" instead of "he." Burke addressed the student by male pronouns. The school then placed him on administrative leave "pending the outcome of a disciplinary process."
"I love my school, with its motto Res Non Verba, 'Actions not words,' but I am here today because I said I would not call a boy a girl," Burke said in court, according to the New York Post. "Transgenderism is against my Christian belief. It is contrary to the scriptures, contrary to the ethos of the Church of Ireland and of my school."
