I think this is great! The only public place I have seen that have gender neutral bathrooms is at Lowes. If we see these, we should really make comments to employees and management about how much we appreciate it. University of Vermont Adds 'Gender-Neutral' Bathrooms Sunday , August 26, 2007 BURLINGTON, Vt. — The University of Vermont's big new student center doesn't just have women's bathrooms and men's bathrooms. It also has gender-neutral bathrooms, a feature added to accommodate transgendered people, as well as those with some disabilities. The four single bathrooms in the new Dudley H. Davis Center — each with a toilet, sink, shower and lockable door — cost about $2,500 a piece to build. Their wall signs identify each as "gender neutral restroom." "It's about inclusivity and accessibility and the importance of meeting all people's needs, not just a few," said Annie Stevens, assistant vice president for student and campus life. UVM isn't the only school trying to make its accommodations more accommodating. At least 17 colleges and universities have included gender-neutral bathrooms in their new construction or in retrofitting residence halls, said Stephanie Gordon, director of educational programs at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. "A multi-use bathroom doesn't necessarily feel safe to transgendered students, because they have concerns about how their gender would be read by others," said Dot Brauer, director of the school's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Ally Services. A woman who identifies as a man, for example, may not feel welcome in a women's rest room. Transgendered people have been the target of verbal and physical abuse in rest rooms and been arrested, or suspected of lewd conduct, according to Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. "There are students whose safety and comfort is comprised," Brauer said. Kelly, a 19-year-old transgendered UVM student who did want her last name published, said she's been made to feel "very uncomfortable" in rest rooms. "I think that they're a really important thing to have," she said of the new facilities. "Just because there can be tense situations in gendered bathrooms, especially for trans- identified people, you need a space to use the rest room and feel safe and comfortable." In 2003, UVM started retrofitting male and female restrooms into unisex bathrooms in classroom and administrative buildings by changing the signs, at $100 each. Not everyone sees the need. "I always have concerns when institutions or the government legitimizes behaviors or practices that could be discovered in the future to be harmful to those individuals," said Stephen Cable, founder of Vermont Renewal, a Rutland group dedicated to promoting traditional moral values. The group also opposes a new law protecting transgendered people in Vermont from discrimination. UVM has taken other steps to accommodate transgendered students. It allows students to change their first names on their campus identification cards and offers several gender- neutral residential suites. But Brauer said the school can do more. She wants to see more gender- neutral bathrooms in the library, and private showers in the gym. "If we can do something, however small, that takes a leap that is going to make life better for members of our community who otherwise would be vulnerable. UVM really shows a willingness to that," said Brauer.
"I always have concerns when institutions or the government legitimizes behaviors or practices that could be discovered in the future to be harmful to those individuals," said Stephen Cable, founder of Vermont Renewal, a Rutland group dedicated to promoting traditional moral values." I laughed so hard when i read this. How will that damage them in the future??!! People that are against stuff like this really need to learn how to phrase their reasons. [not that i agree with them in any way!! ;P ]
Well of course! That and gay marriage. Because then people will marry their dogs, then kill their babies, then eat themselves, then eat each other, then war! Honestly, one of their primary concerns is the danger of unisex bathrooms? Are they serious? How could a neutral bathroom be more intimidating or harmful to people who already receive abuse in gender-specific bathrooms? I'm drawing a blank here.
Should all bathrooms just be gender neutral? assuming their built the way described in the Original post.
:lol: I couldn't have said it better! This is great. This should be uniform. What is the sense of gender-exclusive bathrooms? We are far too particular about separation between sexes. A bit archaic if you ask me. Locker rooms are slightly more complicated but i think the same should apply.
I wonder if we, as a society, are going to soon reach the point where we don't care about gender-specific bathrooms. I was mulling this over in my head a few days ago; is there really a point to having mens & womens bathrooms anymore?
I went for a meal on Wednesday to a restaurant above a pub. The toilets there were four separate rooms in a row. From what I would see when the doors were open they were all identical with a toilet, wash-basin, liquid soap and paper towels. However two have MALE signs on the doors and the other two had FEMALE signs. Why? The meal I went to was a surprise birthday for a work colleague's partner. The majority of people there were guys, and British guys tend to drink pints rather than shorts, so there was often a few people waiting to use the two men's toilets while the two ladies ones were empty. Because of the signs on the doors though, none of the men used the ladies ones. To me there was no point in defining those toilets by gender. It actually made things worse.
I've got a couple of TG friends. I totally agree with this, they're both in a situation right now where their gender is complicated and a gender neutral bathroom sounds like a good idea to me. Persons of his like, who wish to veto a situation with which they disagree but lack a logical argument in favour of their viewpoint, attempt to baffle and confound their opposition with complicated vernacular. Oh bugger.
Perhaps the pub/bar/restaurant whatever thought that Men would be more messy, so they did that? Thats what came to mind when I read it anyways.
i'm totally for unisex bathrooms- i have TG friends too, but more than that i get sick and tired of ppl staring at me when I use the mens bathroom. Seriously if there is a huge line in the women's and there is no one in the mens- i'm using the mens!!! *smiles*
Oh yeah I forgot to mention my TG friend from the gay youth group He's called Greg (soon to be Megan hopefully) and he can speak like a billion languages ! puts me to shame
There's a hilarious scene in a unisex bathroom in The L Word. Jenny is having an affair with Marina in a unisex bathroom cubicle. Her fiancee, Tim, enters, and Marina has to hide behind the door. Jenny says she's feeling nervous and jumpy because "Hearing a man's voice in these unisex bathrooms freaks me out". Yeah, right Jenny, sure. Sure.
Frankly, I just go where it seems most appropriate, but "Gender neutral", as Paul said, makes sense on many levels. Most of the problems around this are from Fundies and religious nuts in the USA. My friend Dylan is a Transman (FTM) who has always been masculine and is just now starting on "T"(Testosterone), but still has a feminine ID for work and driving. She came by where I work the other day and I just started laughing to myself as I saw her coming out of the "ladies" room. She's gonna be getting some weird looks soon.
One reason for the separation is that guys pee on the toilet seats.I've never figured out why this happens.
Because lifting the seat is so haaard! Plus I ain't gonna lift no public toilet seat with my hands! Then there's always a guys worst nightmare....sneezing. Very bad experience.
So spring load the toilet seats, like in a movie theater. Also, as someone who's had to clean bathrooms for years (various service jobs), I find womens bathrooms are more messy on average (seriously ladies, how do you get toilet paper all over the floor?), but when guys make a mess, they REALLY make a mess.
At Wesleyan Universtiy, the school I'm going to next year, each floor of each dorm votes on whether they want gender neutral bathrooms or not.
