The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 46, No. 3 - 24

Jonathan T. Pryor, Garrett D. Hoffman

identity. Supporting LGBTQ+ students necessitates that practitioners understand a one-sizefits-all approach will not accommodate the needs
of gender- and sexual-diverse communities. Leveraging the THI framework, practitioners can
push back against a normative approach (e.g.,
only gender-inclusive housing; restroom use
based on self-identity but still binary) and consider how practitioners can allow for multiple
possibilities for students to be their own selves.
As scholars and practitioners continue to push
forward LGBTQ+ inclusive practices, they must
understand that LGBTQ+ student experiences
in college and university housing are unique
and require multiple approaches to address inequities in practice.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
Findings revealed important considerations for
how housing practitioners construct and implement gender expansive practices. Nicolazzo
(2018) and Nicolazzo et al. (2018) encouraged
practitioners to move beyond best practices to
engage campus housing toward equitable practices for queer and trans students. Applying
the THI framework to implications, practitioners need to consider who is centered in daily
practices and how institutions are challenging
their cultures to support and uplift trans and
queer experiences more broadly. Practitioners
must challenge themselves to think through
what it would look like to truly center queer
and trans students in the very structure and
function of housing and how that could lead to
institutional culture shifts.
Imagine if, as a first step, college and university housing departments created genderneutral residence halls and bathrooms as the
default, and single-gender floors and rest24

As scholars and practitioners
continue to push forward LGBTQ+
inclusive practices, they must
understand that LGBTQ+ student
experiences in college and
university housing are unique and
require multiple approaches to
address inequities in practice.

rooms were available on an opt-in basis. In this
scenario, housing communities could be built
using completely different metrics that do
not rely on biological essentialism. This shift
would not only center LGBTQ+ student needs,
but minimize the harm done by housing professionals who might otherwise make the decision to isolate a student based on their gender
and/or sexual orientation, as in Dustin's case.
Often, trans and queer students must
choose between a more expensive housing
option (like a single room) or be placed in a potentially hostile or unaffirming environment.
Imagine if institutions subsidized housing fees
for those who require single rooms due to institutions' discriminatory housing structures.
Rather than penalizing students who do not fit
into institutions' housing structures, this shift
would promote a broader definition of equity
by taking into account how a potential lack of
resources might necessitate that students live
in unsafe environments.
Practitioners need to consider the impact
that centering queer and trans lives in housing

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 46, No. 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 46, No. 3