In an attempt to make TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) institute a gender inclusive place, the TISS in Mumbai has allocated the first floor of the girl's hostel as a gender-neutral space. The hostel will begin its functioning as a gender-neutral space from the academic year commencing this June.
The first-floor will accommodate MA students who identify themselves as transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming students on the campus.
As of now, the institute is accepting the applications from second-year students who wish to avail the new facility. Allotment of the rooms will be done on the first-come-first-serve basis.
“From the new academic year, we will have a hostel facility for students not conforming to the gender binaries. Currently, we’ve sought applications from second-year students but we also plan to keep some rooms for the incoming first-year students,” said Shajahan, dean of student affairs at TISS.
He further said that the number of rooms may be increased later.
The TISS Queer Collective (QC) is an informal student body which started campaigning and demanding a gender-neutral hostel space last year.
“It took a lot of campaigning for this demand to become a reality. The QC worked with the students running for election to the student union to include this demand in the election manifesto. Thereafter, we had to mobilize students, talk to fellow students and teachers in classrooms and convince them about the necessity of a gender-neutral hostel,” said Sai Tejo, a second-year student who is part of the QC.
Tags: Tata Institute Of Social Sciences
Gender Neutral Hostel
Gennder Inclusive Hostel
