November 29, 2018

Watch: Lesbian College Student Says Special 'Dorm Rules' Applied Only to Her

Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.

A lesbian University of Texas at Austin freshman and resident at a private all-girls' dorm has gone public with the story of how others in her dorm cannot have male visitors, but she – and only she – is denied female visitors as well, local news station CBS Austin reports.

Kaj Baker's girlfriend used to visit her at the Scottish Rite Dormitory, Baker told the news outlet, and the two would study together in the study lounge. But when other students complained, those visits came to an end.

"What they were saying shifted from 'This is about the rules' to 'This is about you being gay,' " Baker told the news channel when discussing the special rule that was seemingly put in place to police her, and only her, ability to receive guests.

Baker expressed concern at not having a clear explanation of how, exactly, she and her girlfriend had violated an (previously) existing dorm rules. Barker told CBS Austin that she and her girlfriend "weren't doing anything wrong."

"We weren't harming anyone, we weren't doing PDA, we weren't breaking any rules... they told me that girls need to feel safe here."

When Baker asked whether other girls among the dorm's 300 residents somehow felt "unsafe" with an open lesbian in their midst, she said, the administrator with whom she spoke answered, "I'm not going there."

Now it's Baker who's saying she feels uncomfortable – in the dorm, that is, reports the university's newspaper The Daily Texan. Baker has been staying with her girlfriend Carlee in the other young woman's apartment. What's more, Jackson's girlfriend, Carlee, told the newspaper that the purported "complaints" were a complete surprise, given that she'd started to feel welcomed at the dorm.

"At the beginning, people didn't really know who I was, but then that all kind of subsided, and people have been really nice to us," the article quoted Carlee as saying. "So it was just surprising that they were trying to say that now I wasn't allowed to be there."

The story was also picked up by the TexasNews Chanel, which posted a tweet in which a video of Jackson discussing the situation was featured.


Carlee told the Daily Texan that she had not showered at the dorm, nor had she eaten at the dining hall. But media sources said that complaints came in from the dorm's residents about the two girls brushing their teeth together and wearing pajamas – none of which are forbidden under the terms of the contract between the dorm and its residents.

"They backed up their decision with us being gay," Baker told The Daily Texan. "That should have never ever been mentioned if it was just about rules."

Watch the CBS Austin report below.

by Kilian Melloy

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