“It’s not something you usually think about: girls live with girls, and guys live with guys. It has always been that way and we assume it always will be that way. It’s now time to reconsider.”

As college and universities increasingly strive to lead the way towards a new era of gender equality, gay rights, and transgender inclusion, students across the country are now calling into question the fundamental assumptions behind conventional dormitory policies. Why do we require men to live with men and women with women? Why can’t students simply room with whomever they feel most comfortable? Suddenly, with these questions posed, the injustice of it all begins to come clear; we start to recognize that traditional policies are premised upon outdated beliefs and stereotypes about gender and sexuality.

“The fact of the matter is that people would feel uncomfortable with the idea of coed roommates because they ignore two central points: Putting a man and a woman together doesn’t mean that they’ll have a sexual relationship, and putting men with men and women with women doesn’t mean that they won’t.”

In 2006, the National Student Genderblind Campaign arose as a grassroots network of student activists working to pioneer a movement for broader gender equality. We envision a fully inclusive and free society in which labels matter less—a world in which our social institutions and policies reflect the fact that social identities are not experienced in static, bounded, and homogeneous ways. By joining together to advocate for gender-neutral policy, we can move towards this vision for true equality.