Hello,
The gender-neutral washrooms in the SUB interested me for a few seconds when I first entered the building. Then it became pretty clear that they were previously gender-binary and those who identify as men are more likely to use the one with urinals and women the one with more stalls.
I am neutral on the subject and don’t mind who uses the washroom as long as they flush. I’ve asked friends for their opinions about having gender-neutral washrooms all over campus. What I’ve seen is that men didn’t seem to care because we use the campus washrooms to release our waste, wash our hands, and leave. Women, on the other hand, were the ones who had stronger opinions either for or against. The reason that several of them gave for being against it was that they feel uncomfortable with men in the washroom with them. A few said it just seemed weird; others feared the thought of perverts.
Does UVic really benefit from gender-neutral washrooms campus-wide?
Do the pros outweigh the cons of the students who would be “creeped out”?
Do gender-neutral change rooms come next?
In the perfect world, what has gender boundaries?
Juan Manuel
Third-year UVic student
