To the Editor:
In response to an article in Monday's Herald ("Gender-neutral housing gains traction," Oct. 24), I would like to note that as a queer prospective student, I looked for first-year gender-neutral housing as an indicator of how welcoming of LGBTQ students schools would be.
I am not transgender, but gender-neutral housing mattered and still matters to me as a statement about how inclusive Brown really is. We have been leaders in inclusive housing policy, and other universities around the country follow our example.
A few days ago, President Ruth Simmons closed her letter on the Reserve Officers' Training Corp issue by saying, "We should commit to helping to arouse greater national attention to the discrimination of the military and others against transgender individuals." This starts at home. As we have seen with regard to ROTC, actions speak louder than words. Gender-neutral housing is the next step.
Elizabeth Duthinh '12
