Gender-Neutral Bathrooms at Universities?
At the University of Vermont , the college administration has added gender-neutral bathrooms. While administration does give some lip service to improving handicapped access, the purpose of these bathrooms is mostly to limit discrimination against transgendered students, who might ordinarily feel uncomfortable at being forced to choose between male and female bathrooms.
A man who lives and identifies himself as a woman, for example, faces an unpleasant choice between feeling out of place in the men’s room and making female students uncomfortable when using a women’s-only bathroom. Some students have reported facing abuse in bathrooms.
Unisex bathrooms are a growing trend. Apparently 17 other schools have embraced gender-neutral bathrooms in residence halls and other facilities. As societies become more accepting of non-traditional gender roles, it’s possible that sex-segregated bathrooms may become more rare. Some students call for more gender-neutral bathrooms in other locations, such as gyms, libraries, and cafeterias.
Still, not everybody likes the idea—conservative groups protest giving special considerations to groups whose behaviors they consider immoral.
So what do you think—are unisex bathrooms a passing trend or the flush of the future?
Tags: bathrooms, gender, unisex, university