The Student Association Senate passed a bill to support gender-neutral housing on campus in a 19-11 vote Tuesday night.

“I’m absolutely elated, we’ve been working on these issues for literally years now,” said Sen. Michael Komo, the bill’s sponsor.

Komo, U-At Large, said he knew the vote would be close, but was surprised that it still passed with a fairly wide margin.

“Regardless of the total, it was a clear victory,” Komo said.

Even with the SA’s seal of approval, the University will have the final say over whether to implement gender-neutral housing.

The bill was introduced on the senate floor last week, but was tabled for further review. Tuesday’s meeting was a special meeting called for the express purpose of voting on the housing bill and on a second resolution calling for the creation of an LGBT Studies minor.

The LGBT Studies minor passed in a vote of 23-7.

The meeting drew about a dozen students who spoke during the public comment session, giving their support and opposition to both bills.

Freshman Carlos Vazquez urged his senators to vote against the gender-neutral housing bill, arguing that traditional-minded students would be “turned off” by such a policy.

“A lot of minorities are very conservative-minded and parents would not feel comfortable sending their children to a school with these types of policies,” Vazquez said.

Junior Anna Crabbe questioned the priorities of some of the students who spoke before her.

“I’m not sure why you think somebody else’s parents are your business, or why somebody else’s rooming choices are your business,” Crabbe said in support of the bill.

The bill was amended in several places before the final vote took place, changing some of the most contentious language that  senators had objected to during debate. The final bill no longer requires at least one gender-neutral residence hall per class, and does not call for gender-neutral housing to be implemented for the 2010-2011 year.