Most of us take the ease of the roommate application process for granted, particularly when going in blind.

Sure, worries about sleep schedules, cleanliness and work ethic are normal, but most students never have to wonder whether the next year of their life will be spent sharing close quarters with someone who won’t accept them because of their sexuality or gender identity.

For LGBT students at GVSU, the housing selection process comes with its own unique set of challenges and fears, many of which could be absolved if GVSU adopted a gender neutral housing policy. Gender neutral housing would allow students to choose between living with roommates the same or opposite genders and, while the policy would be geared mostly toward LGBT students, it would benefit anyone who feels more comfortable living with the opposite sex. Under the current system, some students find themselves facing one homophobic or transphobic roommate after another, and Housing cannot accommodate all requests to change rooms.

Despite the common assumption, the point of gender neutral housing would not be for couples to live together on campus, although it shouldn’t matter. Under the current system, two LGBT couples of the same gender would have to go through the same process as two heterosexual students of the same gender, which could, and in some cases already has, lead to complications should the LGBT couple grow apart or decide to break up. These problems between couples are going to exist regardless of what kind of housing policy the university chooses to implemnt, so to use it as an excuse for not considering gender neutral housing as an option makes no sense.

Couples who wish to live together or students who feel uncomfortable living with a specific gender or sexuality can choose to live off campus in one of the many apartment complexes that surround the university, but while off-campus housing can be an option, as Housing Director Andy Beachnau suggests, apartment living is not always a viable choice for students who do not have a regular income or want the on-campus experience. Students should not be forced to move further away from on-campus resources just because they wish to live a different lifestyle from what is considered the norm. When living on campus is the only realistic option, feeling safe or comfortable around a roommate should trump what gender they identify with.

While the university has made great strides towards inclusiveness in the past decade, the current push for gender neutral housing demonstrates that GVSU’s work is not yet done. Currently, gender is the primary criteria in GVSU’s roommate selection process – sexual orientation is currently not a criterion, but it should be. With an increasing number of teenagers and young adults embracing their sexuality at younger ages and as more and more LGBT students come to GVSU, offering gender neutral housing would be a strong statement from administration that the university not only cares about the comfort of its LGBT students, but is reactive to its tuition-paying student body.