Gender neutral bathrooms

They can also greatly improve the mental wellbeing of trans and gender diverse students as it can help to alleviate anxiety or dysphoria that may arise from being forced to use a bathroom that may not match their gender identity or gender expression.

Of course, gendered spaces are incredibly important and validating for some, and nobody wishes to remove all existing bathrooms. But for every person who feels safe in a gendered restroom, there is someone else who does not.  

In 2017, the UTS Queer Collective wrote an open letter to the university, recommending that at least one bathroom in every building be labelled an “all-gender” facility, as well as adding gender-neutral bathrooms on every floor to any new buildings at UTS.

Since then, members of the collective have petitioned and fought for gender neutral bathrooms on campus. A petition that gained over 650 signatures was presented to the Vice-Chancellor late last year.

Because of this, the accessible toilets on the lower floors in all our city campus buildings have been re-labelled as “all-gender” restrooms. Although we acknowledge that separate bathrooms would be a better solution (rather than taking away from much-needed accessible toilets), it’s still a step in the right direction. You may start seeing some more changes around campus this year, as some other bathrooms are set to be remodelled into gender-neutral facilities.

It’s extremely important to protect and support your trans and gender diverse classmates. If you see someone being harassed in a bathroom, speak up if it is safe to do so, or report it to campus security. If you hear your friends making transphobic remarks, let them know it’s not okay, and use it as a chance to educate them. And if someone enters a bathroom, and you’re not quite sure if they are in the “right” one, let them be. We all just want to pee in peace, after all.