Nondiscrimination Policies Are Essential in New Political Era, Argues Student

Shane Ruyle

A University of Portland student recently penned an op-ed arguing  that adding gender identity to the Catholic college’s anti-discrimination policy is “long overdue” and inconsistent with the school’s other policies about LGBTQ+ issues, as well as its core values.  Moreover, the new incoming federal government makes establishing such policies essential to protect students. 

Writing for  the school’s student newspaper,The Beacon, Shane Ruyle that although the student government of the University of Portland (ASUP) unanimously passed a resolution in the fall of 2024 to add gender identity as a protected class under UP’s non-discrimination policy, student senators were informed that the change would be made via a decision by the Board of Regents. After three board meetings passed without making the  recommended change, senators were then told that the decision would actually be made by UP administrative leaders.. Subsequently, these leaders announced that the addition of gender identity as a protected class was unnecessary, due to existing protections under Title IX, the federal civil rights law governing gender and sex. 

However, Ruyle points out that other categories, such as sex and sexual orientation, are also already covered under Title IX but are still explicitly outlined in the non-discrimination policy. Additionally, he argued, Title IX is not “a bullet proof shield.” 

“This law,” Ruyle says, “and this judicial interpretation, has been threatened in recent years, and will no doubt be threatened in the future.” Experts predict that president-elect Donald Trump will seek to alter Title IX regulations and possibly even redefine sex to exclude trans and nonbinary people from protections and national recognition. 

“It is clear our rights as trans students are under attack, which is why nearly every major institution across the country safeguards trans rights in their nondiscrimination policies,” Ruyle wrote.UP wouldn’t even be the first Holy Cross Catholic university to include these protections. (The school is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, the religious community of priests and brothers who also operate the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.)

UP students have long fought for LGBTQ+ students’ rights, with the “Redefining Purple Pride” movement in 2013 calling for the inclusion of sexual orientation in the non-discrimination policy. This movement also asked for the inclusion of gender identity as a protected category, but was unsuccessful in part due to Oregon state laws which included gender identity within the definition of sexual orientation. 

However, Oregon has since changed its laws to recognize gender identity as a separate protected class, but UP has not followed suit. After years of advocacy have produced no change, Ruyle argues that the absence of gender identity from the non-discrimination policy is not simply an oversight, but a conscious exclusion. “The exclusion of our identities from institutional policies is discriminatory in and of itself,” he states. 

Ruyle acknowledges t that the school has made significant strides towards inclusion: the effort at including sexual orientation as a protected class was ultimately successful, and the recent creation of the Center for Gender and Sexuality was a major milestone, he said. Moreover, student advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights has remained strong throughout the years, and trans and gender-diverse students are represented in academic work, art, athletics, and more. The lack of change in the non-discrimination policy, Ruyle argues, speaks to a tendency to cleave to “traditions of discrimination” rather than students’ rights and students’ voices:

“The nondiscrimination policy exists not only to provide recourse in instances of discrimination, but also to articulate our community’s values and expectations for the institution. As a trans student, reading the policy as an incoming freshman already apprehensive about attending a Catholic university, the exclusion of gender identity spoke volumes. It signaled a lack of recognition, care, and protection for trans students like me.”

Students plan to continue the campaign for the policy change about gender identity. They rightly note that the school’s values of justice, listening, and inclusion should flow directly from the school’s Catholic identity and extend to encompass the entire university community, trans students included. 

–Phoebe Carstens, New Ways Ministry, January 10, 2025