Recently, two first-year College students started a petition to install gender-neutral bathrooms in all first-year residence halls, which has garnered 221 signatures as of publication. The installation of these bathrooms would be a smart move for the University if it truly wants to be a progressive institution that is welcoming to a wide range of students.
Issues facing LGBTQ students can be complex, but one issue that almost uniquely plagues transgender and gender non-conforming students is the issue of invisibility. When spaces demarcate between just two genders — male and female — and force all students into one of these two categories, transgender and gender non-conforming students are rendered invisible to existing structures. Checking off a box with just two options pushes students who don’t fit inside that mold into a space of ambiguity that can cause undue stress and even depression.
Currently, there are 20 gender-neutral bathrooms on Grounds. But forcing students who identify with genders outside the confines of male and female to seek out those bathrooms requires extra effort on the part of students who, in reality, need extra support. Making bathrooms in first-year residence halls gender-neutral — and eventually in residential colleges and upperclassmen housing — would be a sign of that support, and would markedly improve the living experience here for affected students.
Additionally, from the University’s perspective, such a change could also enhance recruitment possibilities for transgender and gender non-conforming students. As of last July, there were more than 150 schools across the United States that had gender-neutral bathrooms, and that list is only growing. We are being preempted by peer institutions like Northwestern University and University of California schools — but why shouldn’t we be the University leading the charge?
As LGBTQ Center Coordinator Scott Rheinheimer said to The Cavalier Daily, “This can be a very controversial topic that does not have to be controversial — this is about people being able to go to the bathroom in a safe environment.”
In short, there is no real downside to this change, but there will be positive effects for students who are often marginalized by the use of and erroneous belief in the gender binary. Imagine what it feels like to see spaces that are divided into two categories and not know which category is yours — this is a daily struggle for transgender and gender non-conforming students. Where we can alleviate students’ burdens, we should. To make our University a welcoming space, implementing gender-neutral bathrooms would be an easy and productive change.
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