Autumn Chow
Graphic Design Editor
Saint Rose has an issue that plagues many other institutions as well. It’s a question that has gained traction over the past couple of years, and it’s the question of “should places include gender-neutral bathrooms?”
Gender-neutral bathrooms is, as the name implies, a bathroom that doesn’t have a designated gender to it. Anyone is free to use it, and it’s similar to the bathroom you have at home. Typically these bathrooms don’t have stalls and are supposed to be occupied by one person at a time.
Gender-neutral bathrooms became more popular in building design with the rise LGBTQ+ equality movement. These bathrooms were meant to help ease the discomfort for those who either don’t feel comfortable with their gender at birth, or simply those who don’t conform to the standard male and female genders. Even in today’s world, where the LGBTQ+ community is heavily recognized and celebrated, this issue feels like it’s being left behind, especially at the College of Saint Rose which tries to promote itself as a safe space for all and big on diversity & inclusion. Which I find hard to believe when most schools of education don’t have the proper bathroom facilities to accommodate those in the LGBTQ+ community.
The only building that has a somewhat accessible bathroom is the Events & Athletic Center (EAC). Even then, the gender-neutral bathroom isn’t even in a high traffic area like where the female and male bathrooms are. It’s placed in the basement level of the EAC hidden in the hallway near the bookstore and mail room. If I were to take a good guess, most of you reading this didn’t know there was a gender-neutral bathroom in the EAC. The other two locations on campus aren’t high-traffic areas like the EAC and are generally placed there because it saves space to only put two gender neutral bathrooms instead of two full-sized gendered bathrooms.
For those living in Centennial, we know about the two first-floor bathrooms again because it wouldn’t make sense to have fully gendered bathrooms as we all have our own. The second location is in the Midnight Eats building, which again also is there as a convenience, but there is also not enough traffic for fully gendered bathrooms. So, this begs the question, if these facilities do exist, why aren’t they in buildings that are more populated? As more and more people start identifying with LGBTQ+ identities along with the influx of freshman it couldnt hurt to consider the comfort of the student body.
Having gender-neutral bathrooms might not be a major decision factor of if someone is comfortable with their own gender, but it definitely lingers in the back of their mind. Not having accessible bathrooms can also cause major distress to those who need them, especially those who are in the middle of a transition between genders, but still have features of one gender.
Picture this, a trans-fem (one who presents femininely while being assigned male at birth) student is trying to decide which bathroom to use in Albertus. They have three options:one, they can just say screw it, go into the male bathroom and hope no one is in there to judge them or give weird looks that might start eating away at that person’s self-esteem; not to mention that the amount of distress caused by doing so might be enough that it prevents them from going into the male bathroom at all, leading to a hindrance in that person’s life.
The second option they have is to enter and use the female bathroom which might upset others. Some might not be as comfortable with that idea or not be educated and try to get the person to leave, which can also be distressing.
The third option would be to hold it in and walk over to the EAC basement to use the bathroom. This can be a huge issue, because it’s time-consuming, especially if you’re trying to go in the middle of class. It’s also an annoyance if the person has to use that small gap between classes just to walk to another building to use the bathroom.
With all things considered, I think we need more gender neutral bathrooms. A lack of them provides major discomfort for everyone that isn’t gender conforming. We already go through so much conflict on a day-to-day basis. Some days, we don’t feel right in our own bodies and are in conflict with ourselves over what to wear. Sometimes, we feel like the whole world is frowning on us for who we want to be. We go through so much internal conflict; the last thing we need to worry about is being embarrassed to use the bathroom.
With the implementation of gender neutral bathrooms, I think it would signify from the college that they are in support of our identities. Yes, I understand that maybe it’s expensive, and most buildings would need major renovation work to be done. However, it’s a small expenditure when considering a student’s needs. Saint Rose prides itself on being an inclusive campus; however, I don’t believe it would be unless they actually give us the proper facilities to allow us be who we want to be.
