Equality Maricopa, Maricopa County Community College District's (MCCCD) lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) employee constituency group is requesting that “gender identity and expression” be added to the nondiscrimination policy of the District. This request is offered in the spirit of a shared vision of Maricopa’s values of diversity and inclusiveness: that all students and employees should be treated with respect, dignity, and equity. Adding this phrase to the policy will put MCCCD in alignment with two of our key strategic partners, ASU and the UofA, who have gender identity in their nondiscrimination policies.

All of our colleges serve and/or employ people who are trans-identified. Equality Maricopa believes an explicit policy statement will clarify the expectations at each college and skill center regarding how trans-identified employees and students are to be treated to ensure their success. They seek to guarantee equal protections related to gender identity and expression that are lacking at the state and federal levels, and to end ambiguous policy interpretations by faculty, administrators, college safety, human resources and EEO.

Definitions: Gender identity is the internal sense of an individual’s gender as masculine, feminine, neither or both; gender expression is how someone expresses this self-identity.

Sponsor

Links