Editor’s note: As of April 21, 2019, at the request of the source, this article has been revised to change one of the sources’ names to a pseudonym for the source’s safety reasons.
“Going to the washroom where I want to means acceptance,” said Michelle, a Carleton student who wishes to remain anonymous.
According to Kate Krug, an anthropology and sociology professor at Cape Breton University, gender-neutral and gender-inclusive washrooms permit all individuals to enter without discrimination based on one’s preferred gender identity.
“[They] are washrooms that are not sex specific, they are not designated for males or females . . . they are just washrooms,” Krug said.
“There are a host of folk for whom sex-specific washrooms just don’t work, some of those are trans folk. People whose gender presentation doesn’t necessarily line up with their biological in the way that is expected,” Krug said.
Krug added gender-neutral washrooms also benefit parents and caregivers who have children of the opposite gender.
“For anyone who needs care in the washroom . . . including children, those who are [differently] abled . . . this means you will not have to make awkward decisions or be barred from a facility because that washroom cannot accommodate your basic human need,” she said.
According to Carleton Equity Services, there are 25 gender-neutral bathrooms across 12 buildings on campus.
Yet several students have said they do not know where they are or how to access them.
“I’ve been a student for three years but I do not know where all of these washrooms are, I only know of two,” Michelle said.
The gender binary
Keya Prempeh, the Programming Coordinator at Carleton’s Gender and Sexuality Resource Centre (GSRC), said the gender binary forces limitations upon individuals who do not conform to the male or female genders.
“The gender binary is a system of oppression, based on cis-sexism and patriarchy,” she said.
As defined on Queers United, an activist blogging website designated for queer individuals, cis-sexism is the negative treatment of trans folk based on a system of beliefs that identifies them as inferior to cis-gendered people–individuals who identify with their birth-assigned gender.
“Saying that when someone is born they are either male or female . . . that’s a very limited view of gender,” Prempeh said. “So the gender binary says that people who do not fit neatly into categories of male or female are othered . . . or must be fixed.”
Chelsea, a second-year Carleton law and psychology student who wished to go by a pseudonym for safety reasons, said they believe the gender binary needs to be challenged to deal with issues like the controversy over gender-neutral washrooms.
“I believe that at this time in history, having a strict gender binary is unnecessary and even [a] harmful concept to enforce,” Chelsea said. “I feel like there are many people who don’t neatly fit into the ‘man’ or ‘woman’ box and that’s something that should be accepted and celebrated.”
Safe(r) spaces
Chelsea said as an individual who identifies as gender non-binary, they believe gender-neutral washrooms are a safe place to those worried or uncomfortable using gendered washrooms.
“I’ll go into the women’s washroom and people will think I’m a guy and give me weird and confused looks, or tell me I am in the wrong washroom, assuming I just wasn’t paying attention to the signage. On the other hand, the thought of going into a men’s washroom makes me anxious for the same reasons,” they said. “As a result, if there isn’t a gender-neutral washroom nearby, I usually try and use gendered bathrooms that are less frequented so I can avoid people.”
According to Jody L. Herman’s study on gendered washrooms for UCLA’s Williams Institute, “Fifty-eight percent of respondents reported that they have avoided going out in public due to a lack of safe restroom facilities.”
Chelsea said the option of gender-neutral washrooms benefits those who face anxiety, fear, or safety concerns over using gendered facilities.
“Having gender-neutral washrooms provides a safer space where folks don’t have to subscribe to the gender binary, worry about being ‘outed’ or abused, or stress about whether they look male or female enough to be accepted in a gendered washroom,” Chelsea added. “And honestly, regardless of your gender identity and expression, gender-neutral washrooms are also just nice private place for people to pee in peace.”
Why such a fuss over a washroom?
Although there has been a strong effort made to include gender-neutral washrooms into all spaces, many individuals have said they feel uncomfortable about this concept.
Taylor, a University of Toronto graduate who also wished to be anonymous, said she believes individuals must have the right to choose to use gendered washrooms as well.
“The only condition in which the public can justify supporting gender-neutral washrooms for the purpose of catering to transgenders [sic] should be, if and only if, there are also gender-specific washrooms for both females and males,” she said. “Currently, individuals who choose either female or male washrooms do so in order to have their privacy and safety protected—this too is the basic human right of non-transgenders.”
Taylor added she has witnessed violence in public washrooms perpetrated by non-binary individuals.
“If non-transgenders are socialized to respect the transgenders’ right to choose, then transgenders must govern themselves accordingly and respect male and female specific restrooms without being aggressive in the least,” she said.
The underlying problem of Transphobia
According to Prempeh, the controversy over gender-neutral washrooms also reinforces transphobia and makes spaces more dangerous for trans and gender nonconforming individuals.
“A lot of trans women specifically experience a lot of violence . . . there’s this narrative that trans women are just men in dresses . . . that they are looking to hurt people or do mischievous things in the bathroom. Especially trans women of color who may have more facial hair, or do not express as much femininity, but still do identify as female,” Prempeh said.
“Being trans isn’t inherently violent, it isn’t inherently something to be squashed, or to be monitored . . . I think people just tend to think that trans people are villainous just because transphobia is so heavily entrenched in our society.”
Michelle said the debate surrounding gender-neutral washrooms should be more open-minded.
“It’s time to start opening hearts instead of closing doors because of sex-specific regulations,” they said.
