For many USC students, finding housing can be a very stressful process, and even more so for LGBTQIA+ students. As someone who has had multiple different rooming experiences with vastly different outcomes, I hope to give you some guidance on your housing journey. 

The three main housing options for LGBTQIA+ students who are looking for safe and inclusive housing are the Rainbow Floor, Gender-Inclusive Housing and single-room accommodations. All three of these options have their own drawbacks and positive aspects.

The Rainbow Floor is for second-year students who are looking for a living environment directly geared toward students building an LQBTQIA+ community at school. The Rainbow Floor is located at Century Apartments. 

At Century Apartments there are three main room styles: the two-bedroom four-person small, the two-bedroom four-person large and the one-bedroom two-person setup. This means that you would have a direct roommate living within your bedroom. These accommodations also come with a private bathroom and a kitchen area — both of which you will share with your other suitemates. 

The Rainbow Floor is best for students who want to be actively involved in the LGBTQIA+ community on campus, as you will constantly be surrounded by your fellow LGBTQIA+ Trojans. This community is also great for those who love participating in Genders & Sexualities Alliance-style clubs in high school, as it allows you to form a similar tight-knit community as is common in those clubs. 

Another housing option for LGBTQIA+ students is USC’s Gender-Inclusive Housing program, where students can live together with students regardless of their gender identity or sex assigned at birth. Gender-Inclusive Housing is available at Cardinal Gardens, Cowlings and Ilium Residential College, Birnkrant Residential College and Century (Rainbow Floor). 

This is a great option for students who wish to get a more traditional dorm experience with roommates and don’t mind the possibility of having communal showers. Birnkrant is the Gender-Inclusive option geared toward freshmen, while the other three options are mostly reserved for non-freshman students. Birnkrant has communal bathrooms, while the other three options have private bathrooms, which are shared with only your roommates. 

Gender-Inclusive Housing is for students who are looking for a more traditional dorm experience on their floor, while still having a roommate who is accepting of different gender identities and expressions. While this option is great, if you are a transgender person who is looking for privacy and a place where you feel like you can take off your chest binder or tucking underwear away from people, this might not be the best option for you.

If you are a transgender student looking for a space to be able to unwind, feel safe and comfortable without feeling like you have to hide your top surgery scars in fear of accidentally outing yourself, then an Office of Student Accessibility Services single-room accommodation might be the best route for you. Single accommodations are available for all students, regardless of class standing. 

In order to get an OSAS single-room accommodation, you must have documentation of a demonstrated need for a single accommodation. Things that can qualify a student for a single accommodation include an anxiety diagnosis, a gender dysphoria diagnosis, a physical disability or a multitude of other conditions that could benefit from a single-room accommodation.  

One notable example of a single-room assignment benefitting LGBTQIA+ students on campus happened when one of my friends had to be transferred to a single room after his original roommate turned out to be homophobic. A single accommodation is a great option for all LGBTQIA+ students worried about any possible homophobia or transphobia from their roommates. 

With a single accommodation approved through OSAS, USC Housing will do its best to fulfill your accommodation (personally, I’ve never heard of anyone not having it fulfilled). A single room in USC Housing means that you will have your own private bedroom, but will share a bathroom and common area with your apartment or suitemate(s). 

While all three of these housing options are great options for LGBTQIA+ Trojans, my personal favorite is the single-room accommodation. As someone who has had four separate less-than-ideal roommates during my freshman year of college — all of whom made me feel unsafe and othered — a single-room accommodation has been a game changer for me. It has allowed me to feel comfortable in my queerness without the threat of being uncomfortable in my own home. My single-room accommodation has been so important to me as my bedroom is a safe place where I can decompress and be myself all on my own terms, without fear of retribution.