OPINION: Why There Ought To Be Gender-Neutral Bathrooms Everywhere

[Shana A]

OPINION: Why There Ought To Be Gender-Neutral Bathrooms Everywhere

By:           Evan Mulvihill
On:           Mar 28, 2012

http://www.queerty.com/opinion-why-there-ought-to-be-gender-neutral-bathrooms-everywhere-20120328/

Over at Washington State University Vancouver, an activist group has decided to throw a gender-neutral bathroom week. It got me to thinking, and I realized: Why don't we have gender-neutral bathroom week every week, everywhere?

Here's their plan, according to Janae Teal & Meredith Williams, leaders of "Gender Diversity WSU Vancouver":

    For one week, we are designating one set of bathrooms in seven buildings "gender neutral," to raise awareness of students being harassed in bathrooms for not appearing stereotypically gendered. For that week, students, staff and faculty can use whichever bathroom they want, or can go to other gender-segregated bathrooms in the building.

Of course, they say, the issue has raised the predictable ire of some conservative groups on campus. But why?

[BlonT]

There is one small point the forget in a gender-neutral bathroom .the users !
Smell in most *man* rooms is pfffff  not to say what is written on the walls,and you don't want to sit there.

[Annah]

There is one small point the forget in a gender-neutral bathroom .the users !
Smell in most *man* rooms is pfffff  not to say what is written on the walls,and you don't want to sit there.

Have you ever visited a women's public bathroom before?

Men's bathrooms are like the marbled foyer floors of a 5 star hotel compared to women's public bathrooms.

New England Journal of Medicine did an article about eight years ago stating women's bathrooms are 70% messier/germ than men's bathrooms

And yes, women piss on the toilet seats too....and it seems more than men do...not to mention the other lovely things smeared on the seats

[Renee D]

What kind of places do you people go to the bathroom at?  Everywhere I go, the bathrooms are usually pretty clean.

Now at work, we have our own employee restroom that only the women at the store use, its very clean and always smells nice.

But even our public restroom is kept clean, just single use, either gender.

[Annah]

any bathroom can get nasty. All it takes is for one unthoughtful person messing it up.

[Jamiep]

any bathroom can get nasty. All it takes is for one unthoughtful person messing it up.

I agree with you Annah.

This reminds me of the Aly McBeal show & I thought the gender neutral washroom was a wonderful idea. This would help with lineups for the ladies room & I have seen women use the men's room for that reason. We are mature adults & know our anatomy, we are there to do our business & shouldn't care. At urinals, I do have a problem getting going & prefer a stall. When dressed as a girl, fortunately so far I have never had a bad experience in the women's washroom. Nervous the first time, but two young ladies were friendly to me. Another time a 20's lady said she had a top exactly the same as mine & talked fashion. One time I apologized to a lady if I made her uncomfortable & she said, "no problem, this is who your are." Then there was my accepting Sis (after coming out to her a couple of years ago) when in a night club, she drew the line at sharing the women's washroom with me lol. In the old distillery district of Toronto there is a gender neutral washroom. So let us merge to purge.

Jamie