A young female student at USU, who lived in a women’s dorm suite where a purported transgender resident assistant was assigned after Christmas break, called the RA placement unacceptable and said she did not feel safe.
In her first interview, Avery Saltzman said she felt compelled to speak up for herself and “to protect girls.”
When asked if it was an assignment she could have lived with, Saltzman said no.
“No, not at all,” the 19-year-old freshman said. “It’s unacceptable, really, feeling unsafe in your own private spaces.”
Saltzman’s mother first raised concerns weeks ago, and after initially defending its housing policies, USU suddenly announced an “external review” of the programs.
GOP legislative leaders said lawmakers would address the concerns — and Thursday, Saltzman testified in favor of HB 269, Privacy Protections in Sex-designated Areas.
Among other things, the bill says, “to preserve the individual privacy of males and females, a degree-granting institution that provides student housing may only rent to, assign, or otherwise place an individual in a dwelling unit that is sex-designated within the institution student housing.”
Saltzman said she is not anti-trans, she supports inclusive housing, and moved rather than share the women’s space — which has a shared bathroom — with a transgender RA.
Hellbound and Down 