Students in the Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Bisexual and Friends group are currently working on a genderblind housing resolution that would provide students with more options for on-campus resident living.

An excerpt of a drafted resolution states, “There are students living on campus who are put into uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situations due to the reinforced gendered stereotypes perpetuated by a binary being housed among a gender they may no longer identify with.”

This drafted resolution also addresses the financial burden placed on gender-blind students, whose only option is to live in a single-occupancy room that is more expensive than a two-person room.

The students of GLTBF think university housing with a roommate should be an option available to everyone, according to the drafted resolution. The final resolution has not been submitted to Housing and Food yet.

“As far as my opinion of the resolution, I think this is a great step toward resolving GLBT housing issues at OU,” said Olivia Favela, sociology junior. “As of now, there aren’t many alternatives for those who are not comfortable with the current gender-based housing options.”

Favela said she never had trouble with her roommates or hall mates while living in the resident halls.

Lauren Royston, Housing and Food spokeswoman, said Dave Annis, director of Housing and Food Services, spoke with a student group earlier this semester requesting they put forth a resolution of their needs, which she said they have not received yet.

Students have not completed a final draft of the resolution yet.

Royston said there will be co-ed upperclassmen floors next year, an option that was available several years ago.

“After gauging students about what they wanted, we were able to reinstitute this as an option,” Royston said. “OU Traditions East and West has been at capacity, and those who wanted to live on campus wanted co-ed floors as an option.”

Elizabeth Rucker, international studies and interdisciplinary perspectives on the environment sophomore, said she thinks co-ed upperclassmen floors are far from ideal but said she thinks it does bring them closer to their goal of gender desegregation in housing.

Rucker said gender-blind housing implies students could share a room and bathroom with students of different genders, and she said it would probably be an option on the housing form if that student would be comfortable living with people of different genders.

“In my opinion, and this is not a part of the official resolution or anything Housing and Food has said, is that the resident advisers for gender-blind floors should be chosen based on their expressed interest in managing such a floor and should complete specialized training in LGBTQIA [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual] needs and issues,” Rucker said.

She said GLBTF is the main force behind this campaign, supported by Students for a Democratic Society, the Women’s and Gender Studies Student Association and the Housing Center Student Association, which passed the co-ed housing legislation.

“I support gender-blind housing because it is imperative that transgender and homosexual students be able to live in safety, enjoy the OU community and express their identity freely,” Rucker said.

She said she would like to see opt-in gender-blind floors for freshmen implemented at OU before she graduates in May 2012.

“As women gain parity in the work place, society and culture, how can we expect to overcome gender discrimination if we continue to segregate people based on gender,” Rucker said. “We have international floors so students can learn about cultures different from their own, we do not prohibit students of different economic classes from rooming together, and we do not house people according to their race.”

Rucker said she thinks living in a platonic setting with people of different genders will increase understanding and acceptance of nontraditional gender identities and sexual orientations.

Christopher Jay, political science and philosophy senior, said he thinks OU should uphold a standard of fairness and enlightenment, and discrimination is neither of these.

“This measure is needed in order to help real people,” Jay said. “Bisexuals, gays, lesbians, transgender and intersex people are dealing with the difficult tasks we all face, like finals and tough work schedules. Not only are they facing these challenges, they also meet with discrimination.”