From helping students with name-change forms to advocating for gender-inclusive bathrooms on campus, the Transgender Task Force is working to make life easier for trans and queer people at Chico State.
The task force has been on campus since 2009. It was created by Dr. Lana Burris-McKnight. Since the start, the task force has been working toward a more gender inclusive environment at Chico State.
The Queer Program coordinator for the Gender and Sexuality Equality Coalition on campus, Kenzi Teal, said the task force networks with various groups on and off campus to build a safer environment for transgender students.
GSEC is a part of that network, providing a place for students to present their problems. Teal said that GSEC has directed students to the task force, as in a recent situation when a student came to GSEC to ask for help getting gender-inclusive bathrooms on campus.
Members attend biweekly meetings to present their issues to the task force, which then works on a plan to address them.
One of the key issues the task force has been working toward is implementing gender-inclusive bathrooms on campus. Gender-inclusive bathrooms are open to all genders. This problem of not having gender inclusive bathrooms on campus is an issue of safety for trans students, said co-chair of the task force, Lindsay Briggs.
“Historically, bathroom access is one of our biggest issues,” said Briggs. “Trans people are far more at risk in the bathroom than cisgender people and so having a safe place to go to the bathroom is an issue of dignity. It’s also an issue of health.”
When installing bathrooms on campus, the task force faces the challenge of implementing them in older buildings. With newly installed buildings, the university is required to install gender-inclusive bathrooms.
The Student Services Center didn’t have a gender inclusive bathroom until 2024. The struggle for implementing a gender inclusive bathroom in this building was a top priority for the task force.
“How do we call it a Student Service Center, and it doesn’t have an inclusive bathroom?” said Briggs.
The task force reached out to Chico State’s President, Steve Perez, in hopes that he would implement the changes to the SSC. To the delight of the task force, the SSC finally got a gender-inclusive bathroom as well as Tehama Hall and Yolo Hall over the summer of 2024.
Briggs said the task force also helps to keep the transgender community alive, while not officially a support group, the task force is a supportive environment.
A student and member of the task force, Indie Pittman, said being a part of the task force has been astounding. The task force has helped him find his way as a queer individual.
The task force has been instrumental in making Chico State one of the most gender inclusive campuses in the California State University system, but there is still more work to be done. From making sure all the buildings on campus have gender-inclusive bathrooms to making sure queer and transgender students feel completely safe on campus, the task force will not stop fighting for those rights.
Braeden Raley can be reached at [email protected]
