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Here's the latest non-story "scandal" from FAU

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Gay student says FAU library denied him a laptop because he sounds and acts like a woman.

FAU students need to understand that if they have an issue, they need to bring it up with the Student Affairs or SGA before shopping it around to the news crews.

The student claims that "People need to start speaking out and addressing this every time this happens" - which I agree with - but speak up to the right people. There are proper avenues for addressing this.

What could happen here is that you get whiplash from the gay community and the press runs "FAU hates gay people" headlines and after it all blows up it finally comes back around to the student who says, "I didn't think FAU hates gay people, I just wanted an apology for this one incident."

So talk to the library manager. Seriously.
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"She looked at the ID and looked down at it. She said, 'You sound, look and act like a girl and in this ID is a man, therefore I'm not giving you a laptop,' " he said.

Apparently they don't do strip search verification for laptops.

On a side note:

You can use any of the public terminals without any checkpoints.
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The crazy part about it is that he/she convinced a woman librarian that he/she was a girl. Isn't that what he/she/it wanted people to recognized him/her as, and then you go and get upset. The first librarian and the other couple librarians probably thought this person was trying to scam them especially because it was a laptop.  He/she is going to have to realize that he/she has to have thick skin if you are going to make life decisions like that, because people aren't always going to see him/her for who he/she really is. As long as your family and friends do that's all that matters.
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If the librarian was confused about whether he was the same person on the Owl Card she could have just asked to see a driver's license. If the names are the same and the pictures are similar, I don't see what the basis for denying the laptop is; scan the card, give him the laptop and forget about it. The laptop goes missing, he gets a hold to pay for it. Just like everybody else.

So yeah, the librarians are in the wrong here but let's not make a federal case about it.
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owl2Doc said

If the librarian was confused about whether he was the same person on the Owl Card she could have just asked to see a driver's license. If the names are the same and the pictures are similar, I don't see what the basis for denying the laptop is; scan the card, give him the laptop and forget about it. The laptop goes missing, he gets a hold to pay for it. Just like everybody else.

So yeah, the librarians are in the wrong here but let's not make a federal case about it.
Posted On: Oct 24th 2013, 8:33 PM #320057

Wouldn't a driver's license have the same implications if someone doesn't believe who you say you are especially if your appearance has changed, you're pretty much screwed.
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Maybe. But the chances of you having an Owl card AND a driver's license with nearly the same picture and the same exact name are pretty slim. The only reason to be hyperguarded like this is if there's been a rash of recent laptop/iPad thefts from the library, which is the sort of thing that a journalist should have asked… and so far, didn't.

It's so hard to get the full story nowadays.
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owl2Doc said

Maybe. But the chances of you having an Owl card AND a driver's license with nearly the same picture and the same exact name are pretty slim. The only reason to be hyperguarded like this is if there's been a rash of recent laptop/iPad thefts from the library, which is the sort of thing that a journalist should have asked… and so far, didn't.

It's so hard to get the full story nowadays.
Posted On: Oct 24th 2013, 8:55 PM #320060
Yeah just playing advocate, could have had a stolen wallet. When multiple people refuse you based on the fact you don't look or have tells that your Id has. Then you have to go up the chain of command until someone is willing to take the chance you are who you are. If it's a problem for this person they should go get id's that resemble him/her better.

WPTV story.  FAU gay student claims university library turned him away for looking like a woman
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That's fair.
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The story is being picked up by a couple other places now… Huffington Post, Daily Caller… and Lisa Metcalf apologized on behalf of the university, which may or may not have been the right move since it admits guilt.

A lot of the outlets are running this as "denied because he was gay" not "denied because he didn't look like the guy on the ID" which is what really happened (but that headline obviously gets you fewer page hits)
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If you notice on the video, he has a big pink purse. That could have contributed to the confusion as well.... Hard call when you have to handover an expensive piece of equipment and your not sure who is who..the mistake they made was not getting their manager....

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
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