This letter was published in The State News in the Wednesday 22 March 2006 edition.
In regards to the article, Race, gay issues focus of meetings, in the March 21, 2006 online edition.
More students on campus may be familiar with the University's anti-discrimination policy, but the list of categories protected from harassment listed in your article ("age, color, gender, disability status, height, weight, marital status, national origin, political persuasion, race, religion, sexual orientation or veteran status") did not include gender identity.
The MSU Board of Trustees voted in its December 5, 2003 meeting "to add 'gender identity' to the list of protected categories in the university's anti-discrimination policy." [Quoted from trustees.msu.edu/decisions_news/2003_12/amdpolicy.html.]
Perhaps you can be excused from leaving gender identity off the list, because the first hit from a search on anti-discrimination on the MSU web page brings up www.msu.edu/access/rule8.html, which has not been modified to include gender identity. The second hit, on web1.msue.msu.edu/msuehandbook/antidiscrim.htm, has been properly modified to show that MSU prohibits harassment, but not discrimination, on the basis of gender identity.
A number of people, including myself, have been working for over ten years to have gender identity fully included in the MSU anti-discrimination policy. It's disheartening that the progress that has been made too often goes unnoticed.
Lisa Lees
East Lansing resident