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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Learning centres planning gender-neutral washrooms
Sign indicates a gender-neutral washroom at Red River College's downtown campus (MIKE APORIUS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store
Manitoba's colleges and universities could soon be flush with gender-neutral washrooms.
There are already a few on local campuses, with talk of more to come.
"It's definitely something that's being discussed within the LGBTT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, two-spirited) community," said Camilla Tapp, president of the University of Manitoba Students Union.
"Transgendered individuals choose not to use a female or male washroom, because they're not comfortable with either," Tapp said.
It's a simple matter at Red River College of having washrooms labelled gender-neutral. They're single stalls, and anyone can use them.
There are two apiece at the Roblin Centre on Princess Street and on the Notre Dame campus, built under the recent LGBTT initiative. Officials are considering whether to put up some sort of notice on men's and women's washrooms, pointing out the availability of the gender-neutral toilets and where to find them.
"We do have a number of single, unisex washrooms," University of Manitoba communications and marketing director John Danakas said Monday. "They are unisex, single-unit and accessible."
Danakas said there are gender-neutral washrooms in the Wallace Building, the third floor of University Centre, Pembina Hall, the Dafoe Library and medical services, and talks are underway with the students' union to discuss where additional facilities should go and how they should be labelled, Danakas said.
"The importance is about being gender-neutral," Tapp said.
It's a lot easier to build such washrooms in new buildings, because it is expensive to extend plumbing to a space in an existing facility, she said.
Tapp said it is difficult to know how many people need a gender-neutral washroom, because many transgendered people will not come forward.
The University of Winnipeg Students Association began discussions with the administration Monday.
Brandon University Students Union president Deandra Tousignant said the campus has not made gender-neutral washrooms a priority, but students will include them in the expanded student centre.
"We have gender-neutral washrooms in our plans. We've made it a priority," she said.
"Not everyone conforms to gender binaries of either male or female," said Ro Mills, a transgendered student at the University of Winnipeg.
"I've seen a lot of other people's identities change while here at university and during that transition, even before, it can make going to the washroom really, really difficult or embarrassing. Using a public restroom shouldn't really be a privilege. It should just be a given right," Mills told The Canadian Press.
"If only exclusively identified transgendered people use this washroom, it would almost reverse its purpose," said Mills, director of the university's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centre.
"If that's the only people using it, you are almost ostracizing yourself again. The education part comes in to tell people that it's OK to use this washroom, even if you are completely comfortable using the gendered washrooms that you already use.
-- with files from The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 18, 2011 A4
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