Bathrooms.
They are part of everyone’s life and practices around them are very different around the world. In Europe, you have to pay to use the restroom; in parts of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, there are toilets where you have to squat; and in many places around the world toilets simply take the form of communal holes in the ground.
In the United States, bathrooms have historically been gendered, but that is changing and we should embrace it. Recently, City High School has changed the bathrooms in both 37 and upstairs in the main building to be gender neutral.
“The key on the rectangular keychain opens the restroom without a urinal and the key on the round keychain opens the restroom with the urinal,” according to our bathroom log.
The absence of gendered language indicates that the bathrooms are no longer separated by gender.
For many people, gender neutral bathrooms are out of the ordinary, but you have to realize that they are a lot safer for many people including transgender and non-binary individuals. The LGBTQ Center at Vassar College says that the risks of only providing binary restrooms can go beyond psychological.
“Students who feel unsafe in single-gender bathrooms can risk UTIs and other medical problems,” the Center said on its website.
Because of how important all gender restrooms are to our community in maintaining physical and mental health amongst the students, here are some norms that can help keep everyone feel as safe to use as possible when using the bathroom:
1)Be understanding that people may use whichever bathroom they want.
2)Don’t judge a person based on whether they would prefer to use one with or without a urinal in it.
3)Don’t parade your genitals about when using the urinals (or the bathroom in general)
4)Don’t make comments about the gender or gender presentation of the people in the bathroom.
5)Don’t stare.
6)Acknowledge but embrace discomfort and work towards a more inclusive space and community.
To sum all of those norms up in one clear, concise statement: Treat everyone in the bathrooms with the respect and decency that you would like to be given if you were in their situation.
Ursula Denholm & Rain Bousquet