TROY, N.Y. — Students at the Troy campus of The Sage Colleges are planning to go topless Wednesday to protest what they believe was discriminatory police treatment of a student who identifies as androgynous.

The incident happened Sunday evening, when a school security officer approached Cedar Brock, who was sunbathing topless in a public park that fronts the campus and is across from the Troy Public Library.

"Are you a boy or a girl?" the officer asked.

"I'm neither," Brock said. "I'm androgynous."

What followed, according to Brock and others at the campus, was a Sage Park standoff that soon involved Troy police, who insisted that Brock put on a shirt and repeatedly told the student that city law forbids women from going topless in public.

"They told me, 'You're in public,'" Brock said Tuesday. "They said, 'This isn't what normal people do.'"

Troy police arrived shortly after the initial contact with the Sage officer. Brock initially refused to cover up, but eventually complied after about 10 minutes of back and forth.

"I felt forced to put a shirt back on," Brock said. "I was scared."

Brock's treatment has angered some students at the campus, who on social media are using the hashtag #IStandwithCedar to demonstrate their support. Students are planning to protest topless from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Sage Park on Wednesday.

"Nobody who was in the park was bothered (by the toplessness)," said Emily Taylor, a Sage student from Cohoes who believes the treatment of Brock was bigoted and harassment.

The incident — and the protest — come amidst a nationally contentious debate over the rights of transgender and others with non-traditional gender identities. In recent weeks, a new North Carolina law that bans transgender people from using public rest rooms that correspond to their gender identity has been controversial. "We have a rapidly changing culture," said Susan Scrimshaw, president of The Sage Colleges, who on Tuesday stressed that the school is strongly supportive of transgender and androgynous people.

"It's very important that our staff, including our security staff, understand the changing culture," Scrimshaw added. "They have to catch up. We have to make sure that we are a community of support and respect."

Scrimshaw said the school is investigating Sunday's incident, but also said it was inappropriate for the officer to ask for Brock's gender. "It isn't the first question that I would have asked," Scrimshaw said. "We have a little work to do with training."

Brock, 22, a junior who is studying theater arts and is from the small Rensselaer County town of Berlin, was sitting in the park with friends for a few hours while wearing a "binder" that restrained and hid Brock's breasts. "It was just so hot," Brock said. "I just thought, 'I'm going to take this off.'"

Scrimshaw said that contrary to what many on campus assumed, the school security officer did not notify Troy police. Instead, Troy police responded to complaints from the public, she said.

Sage Park is city-owned but maintained by the school. The park serves as a front lawn for the campus, but is also frequently used by Troy residents. Capt. Daniel DeWolf, a Troy police spokesman, said the department is aware of Sunday's incident and the scheduled protest. DeWolf said he was unsure whether city code forbids public toplessness.

Brock and other students insisted that state law allows public toplessness, regardless of gender. Indeed, state court rulings have made it legal to go topless, although state law still bars female toplessness in public for commercial purposes.

Brock, unlike transgender people who typically identify as male or female, identifies as neither and described being "flabbergasted" by the situation and the officer's initial question.

"You don't just go up and ask someone that," Brock said.

Brock described feeling buoyed by the support from fellow Sage students and reported satisfaction with the response from the school's administration. Still, Brock said the incident is a reminder of the barriers faced by those with non-traditional gender identities.

"It's not just my rights that were trampled on," Brock said. "It was everyone's rights that were trampled on."

Robert Grebert, director of the University Heights Association, a private organization that provides security for the Albany and Troy campuses of The Sage Colleges, described the incident as a "training issue" but declined to criticize the unnamed officer.

"There's a lack of understanding with the word androgynous," Grebert said. "Some students are concerned about a lack of sensitivity."

Paul Grondahl and Kenneth C. Crowe II contributed.

cchurchill@timesunion.com • 518-454-5442 • @chris_churchill