LGBTQIA+ Title IX Protections

SJSU is committed to supporting its LGBTQIA+ community, and is aware of the high rates of discrimination, harassment, and violence this community faces. Title IX provides important protections to LGBTQIA+ students and employees who experience discrimination and harassment that impedes their access to education and to a safe work environment. Title IX also protects all SJSU community members who experience sexual violence. These Title IX protections exist irrespective of the gender, gender identity, gender expression, and/or sexual orientation of the Complainant or the Respondent. This includes instances where the parties involved are of the same gender. 

Title IX also protects SJSU community members, including those who identify as transgender and gender nonconforming, from gender-based discrimination and harassment. These concepts are defined below. 

Gender-Based Harassment includes any unwelcome verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct against a person based on their Sex, Gender Identity (e.g., nonbinary, transgender), Gender Expression, and/or Sexual Orientation (actual or perceived).

Gender-Based Discrimination includes any adverse action taken against a person based on their Sex, Gender Identity (e.g., nonbinary, transgender), Gender Expression, and/or Sexual Orientation (actual or perceived).

Gender-Based Harassment and Discrimination may or may not be sexual in nature. Such misconduct could include acts of aggression, intimidation, or hostility based on gender, gender expression, or gender stereotyping, or threats of non-consensual disclosure of a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation (i.e., “outing”). This could also look like harassment or discrimination based on a person not conforming to stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity (e.g., a student not being allowed to present in class because they are not dressed in a gender conforming way).

Reporting LGBTQIA+ Discrimination 

The Title IX and Gender Equity Office is available to receive and respond to reports of sex- and gender-based discrimination, including those related to discrimination against those in the LGBTQIA+ community at SJSU. Please learn about Reporting Incidents.   

For more information on resources available to our LGBTQIA+ community, please visit the SJSU Pride Center.