According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the proportion of students enrolled in University of California (UC) institutions who identify as transgender or nonbinary has tripled since 2019.
According to reports, the amount, which was 0.6% in 2019, increased to 1.9% in 2023. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the majority of these individuals identified as intersex and as neither male nor female.
According to reports, the UC system applied a unified concept of nonbinary, which included terms like “genderqueer” and “gender non-conforming.”
According to reports, transgender men and women made up 0.6% and 0.1% of the findings, respectively.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 0.2% of students at UC Berkeley were transgender or nonbinary in 2019. In 2023, this figure is said to have increased to 1.8%. The largest genderfluid population in the system is reportedly found at UC Santa Cruz, with 4%, and the largest transgender population is 1.1%.
Em Huang, the transgender and intersex director of LGBTQ programs and equity at UC Berkeley, told the release that this growth is not unexpected.
Huang stated, “Over time, I’ve absolutely noticed that shift, and I believe that represents more non-binary staff members on campus and increases awareness.” “People are beginning to understand that nonbinary people exist, and we are now in that stage.”
According to Huang, factors like allowing individuals to use their preferred names and gender identities on forms may have contributed to this increase. According to reports, the UC system is currently working to make some single-sex bathrooms gender-neutral. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that when using campus care, UC Berkeley individuals can specifically request a transgender or nonbinary companion.
Students who identify as members of both the LGBT and Asian communities are apparently supported by a number of student clubs across the UC system.
Monday’s request for comment from The National Desk was not immediately answered by the UC system.
A number of policies pertaining to the LGBT community have recently been put forth by the state of California, including a police law that forbids police from interrogating stopped individuals about their gender identification, among other things. There is no appropriate situation listed where an officer may act differently; otherwise, these factors “may be based on the observation and perception” of the officer.
In September’s custody hearings, state lawmakers also made an effort to include gender identity identification. Democrats, who claimed it was in the best interest of children, mostly supported the proposal. Republicans disagreed, claiming that if courts so choose, they already have the authority to take gender affirmation into account.
California Governor In the end, Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill, urging caution against letting lawmakers “dictate” the legal standards that would be applied by the state’s judicial branch.
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