Lhexa D’Avignon, a university teaching fellow and Department of Mathematics graduate student, was called in for an “informational interview” by the Office of Compliance on Jan. 16. The interview was held due to a report filed against her, alleging she was in violation of a university policy.
The report alleged D’Avignon violated Policy 04.028, which states multiple-occupancy private spaces — such as bathrooms — are limited to the use of one gender, specifically the state’s definition outlined in recently implemented Senate Bill 8. Though, the interview with Chief Compliance Officer Clay Simmons was in reference to an employee ethics policy.
“We just want to talk to you about it and make you aware of the policy, so that you’re aware of what the rules are around here,” Simmons said in a recording of the interview D’Avignon sent to the North Texas Daily.
The university’s Policy 04.028 was made in compliance with Texas Senate Bill 8 and implemented on Dec. 5. The number of alleged violation reports since the policy’s implementation is unclear. When asked, the university did not comment.
According to recently implemented SB 8, gender is defined by “male,” someone who naturally has, will or had a reproductive system designed to produce, transport and utilize sperm for fertilization. It defined “female” as an individual who naturally has, will or had a reproductive system designed to produce, transport or provide eggs for fertilization.
D’Avignon declined an interview with the Daily, but supplied the audio recording and email correspondence with the Office of Compliance.
D’Avignon was told she was part of an “investigation” in an email sent to her on Dec. 18. This was the first time she was made aware of the policy, investigation and the report.
The email, obtained by the Daily, did not mention the reason for the investigation, only referencing Policy 04.028 in the subject line. The contents of the email contained a meeting request and the times she could meet with the Office of Compliance.
“This is a policy that we implemented based off of a new state law that went into effect in December,” Simmons said about two minutes into the recording. “What it states is that you’re required to use the multi-use facilities, like multiple-use restrooms, according to your birth gender.”
The interview was roughly 16 minutes long and was a back-and-forth between Simmons and D’Avignon. Four minutes of the interview were spent clarifying whether she was under investigation or not.
Simmons told D’Avignon the use of the word “investigation” was a mistake and apologized for the use of it in the email.
“I don’t intend to proceed on any particular investigation at this point,” Simmons said. “In fact, my intention is to avoid taking any enforcement actions under this policy, if at all possible, which is the purpose of this.”
When the Office of Compliance “received information” of an alleged policy violation, Simmons’ protocol in D’Avignon’s case was to reach out to the dean of the College of Science to acquire more information.
D’Avignon questioned Simmons on which figures in the administration could carry out investigations. She was concerned that the dean of the College of Science violated her privacy by telling Simmons her name.
Simmons told D’Avignon his office and human resources are the university offices that can carry out investigations.
“My department chair wished to keep my identity private and spoke to the dean of the college about this,” D’Avignon said. “During that conversation, the dean asked for my name, knowing the type of policy, the type of supposed violation I had made, and my chair gave the dean my name.”
Simmons then asked D’Avignon why she believed she was under investigation.
“That’s not an investigation,” Simmons said. “So in this particular case, I received the information that there was potential violation of this policy. I reached out to the dean. He said that they had requested not to disclose the information, and I told him it’s required that you disclose the information.”
The Office of Compliance conducts investigations if it determines the report is warranted.
“So if somebody was to say, you know, there’s an allegation of a criminal activity or fraud or something along those lines, there would always be an investigation,” Simmons said. “But for most things along these lines of this policy, if there’s a way that we can provide a less stringent, I guess, investigation, we try to do that.”
Simmons told D’Avignon the office had no intention of pursuing “further action” in her case.
The university has no existing structure for determining whether the alleged person in violation of 04.028 is using a bathroom for their gender not assigned at birth, as the policy and new state law require.
D’Avignon said the absence of an enforcement policy causes the policy to be “carried out in absence of information.”
Simmons said the university has no current plans to create a structure to determine one’s gender assigned at birth, either. SB 8 also lacks guidelines on determining an individual’s reproductive anatomy.
“We will make a determination based on what we can,” Simmons said.“[...] I’m not going to get into a hypothetical discussion about what could happen. Nobody is going to do any kind of medical exams on anyone.”
D’Avignon is a member of The Space, a Denton transgender, nonbinary and genderqueer organization. After D’Avignon’s interview with Simmons, she warned other members in the organization of the policy.
Connor Resepar, a university senior and president of The Space, as well as other members of the organization, said they were unaware of the policy.
“I think that is the big fear now is if I go to the bathroom, am I going to get in trouble?” Resepar said. “Which is such a weird fear to have.”
In an email to the Daily, Melisa Brown, senior director of university communications, said all students, staff and faculty are expected to comply with all university laws and policies. Individuals who violate the policy are subject to “disciplinary action” under their accurate classification. Brown also said all alleged violations of Policy 04.028 are reported to the Office of Compliance for review and “investigation.”
“Is it the safe option to go into the men’s restroom because that’s how I appear, or am I going to be reported?” Resepar said. “It leaves a lot of unknowns in the air because it’s so new. [...] We’re gonna see from Lhexa’s case how it evolves and how far the school wants to take it. I’ll say it changed the way I interact with the school already.”
D’Avignon works on the fourth floor in the General Academic Building, where there is not a single-use bathroom on any of the five levels, with the closest being a single gendered bathroom down the hall from her office.
Simmons provided D’Avignon with the nearest unisex restrooms, telling her she could use the second-floor Marquis Hall restroom or the second-floor Sycamore Hall restroom. Marquis Hall is located approximately 130 feet from the GAB where she works, while Sycamore Hall is about 260 feet.
Unisex bathrooms are defined by SB 8 as a “single-occupancy private space,” and are not required to be designated as either male or female.
“In the Union, there’s four unisex restrooms, but three of the four are in ‘behind house’ areas that students aren’t allowed in,” D’Avignon said. “The only two buildings I investigated were the Union and the Art Building. The Art Building, they’re all accessible, but in the Union building, three-quarters are inaccessible.”
There are 156 single-occupancy private spaces on campus. However, it is unclear how many are inaccessible to students or made for faculty. The university said it was working on a complete list of unisex restrooms accessible to students.
“I like to think it’s the most simple thing in the world to respect your fellow human,” Resepar said. “To respect that there are people who are different from you. I think being different scares people.”
This story was originally published by North Texas Daily, the University of North Texas’ student newspaper. Read the original version here, and read more NT Daily coverage in the Denton Record-Chronicle e-Edition on Thursdays.
