A Carleton master’s student has created a petition lobbying for more gender-neutral washrooms on campus.
Theo Hug, the vice-president (external) of the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA), launched the petition ahead of an open forum Board of Governors meeting, where the petition to have more gender neutral washrooms on campus will be presented.
The petition is asking for all gendered single-stall washrooms to be changed to gender neutral and for all new buildings to have inclusive washrooms built into the design.
Hug said more gender-neutral washrooms will make life easier and safer for trans students, who won’t have to miss so much class running across campus to a neutral washroom.
“What we’re asking is just for the signage to be changed to make them gender neutral, and that way anyone can use them. It just feels more comfortable and safer,” Hug said. “We’re compiling resources and just trying to work with the university as best we can to make this a possibility.”
Hug said although things have improved, there is still a lack of knowledge and understanding about the importance of safer spaces on campus.
“There’s a significant lack of safe spaces for trans folk on campus . . . there is still a lack of knowledge around the issue, so things like how to ask someone for their pronouns, or properly address trans people, is still not well known.”
Although there are already gender-neutral washrooms on campus, they are few and far between.
“A significant number of buildings do have them, but for example Dunton Tower has 22 floors and only one washroom, Loeb similarity has nine floors and only one. Some really big buildings should have multiple for sure,” Hug said.
The petition has garnered a lot of support, with more than 120 signatures online and pages of signatures on paper.
The Board of Governors holds an open forum meeting once a year, where issues can be presented and then debated at the next meeting.
Melina Pelley, administrative co-ordinator for the Gender and Sexuality Resource Centre (GSRC), said gender-neutral washrooms are important to create a comfortable environment for everybody.
“Gender-neutral washrooms are super important for campus because for a lot of folks, particularly trans folks, there’s a lot of harassment and a lot of feeling unsafe in your traditional gendered washrooms,” Pelley said.
Smita Bharadia, Carleton’s equity advisor, said in the past year strides have been made in gender-neutral washrooms on campus.
“Over the last year, we’ve actually put them on the campus map and we have done new signage on them,” Bharadia said. “I agree we need more gender neutral washrooms.”
The Ontario Human Rights Commission policy on preventing discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expressions came into effect in January 2015, and mandates that all new constructions and major renovations must have gender neutral washrooms included in the design.
Gender inclusive washrooms are just the tip of the iceberg. Hug said in the future, there should be more education even within gendered washrooms.
“In the future, we’re thinking of other sort of educational aspects, ways that we can make gendered washrooms safer for trans people, like posters educating people around not assuming people’s gender identity, or assuming that people know which washroom they’re in, and that it’s the right washroom for them,” Hug said.
