The Students' Union toilets
Toilets were back on the agenda for Manchester students last Monday with the University of Manchester Students’ Union playing host to a debate on its new non-gender facilities.
Approximately 40 students turned up to ‘The Big Debate: Toilets and the Union’, which also gave students a chance to voice their opinions, although none of the panel speakers argued against the new toilets.
A media furor has surrounded the toilets since it surfaced in the national press that one set of toilets in the basement of the Steve Biko building had been de-gendered and traditional ‘male’ and ’female’ symbols replaced with temporary signs reading ‘toilets’ and ‘toilets with urinals’.
Dissenting voices amongst the student body have criticized the fact that students had not been consulted on the decision. Women’s Officer Jennie Killip spoke with dismay that objections to the toilets have manifested themselves in destructive ways, saying that, “signs have been ripped off these safe places.”
Challenging such transphobic attitudes was at the top of the agenda on Monday. First speaker Rebecca Dittman from The Gender Trust highlighted the history of transgender people “who have been in society for- forever really” and the problems which they face. “There is still bigotry, there is still hatred, but things are changing.”
Ruth Pearce, trans rep from the NUS Women’s Committee, emphasized that non-gender toilets would not pose a threat to the other toilet users. “We’re not a threat to women – trans people are a bit like spiders. They’re more scared of you than you are of them.”
Misrepresentations of the facts in the media were also criticized, as some reports assumed all Union toilets would become non-gender. “There are and always will remain gender toilets for those w ho prefer to use them,” assured Natalie Heppenstall from the University of Manchester’s LGBT Society.
Heppenstall was also keen to stress that these were not uniquely “trans toilets” as has been misconstrued in the media, citing the benefits for students with children and disabled students with care-assistants of the opposite sex.
Also, added Pearce, “We’ve now got an extra toilet if there is a queue.”
National press were banned from the event and a BBC film crew from The One Show were informed that they would be denied access to the Union.
October 29th, 2008 at 11:52 am
The problem with the entire ‘toiletgate’ issue is that a nominally well meaning idea has actually reinforced prejudices and stereotypes of trans people due to naive media management and inadequate communication with students. The Trans community needs positive help; this has been anything but.
But still the debate rumbles on. Despite the vast coverage the issue has received it seems that the even the Womens Officer and her committee struggle to agree on who can use these facilities and what they are hoping to achieve with the changes. If they cannot agree then I dread to think what the ordinary members of the public think.
Meanwhile Jennie Killip is quick to associate the fact that “signs have been ripped off these safe places” as evidence of transphobia in the student population. Alas, a more prosaic explanation presents itself - the signs remain poorly laminated sheets of A4 stuck over the original sign. They probably fell off when a student desperate for the toilet struggled to identify which facility they could use.
Keep fighting for trans rights but please chose positive methods rather than damaging attempts at headline grabbing.
November 6th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
If this change stems from transgender people feeling that they cannot use a gender-specified toilet without being bullied, then surely the issue to tackle is the bullying, rather than bending around it in order to accommodate everyone? By changing the signs on the toilets, the fact that people are being bullied within the university is not being addressed, but painted over. Would time and resources not be better spent on raising awareness of transgender issues, in a bid to reduce ignorance and bullying amongst students? It has already been pointed out that tackling the issue in this way may put the wrong kind of attention on transgender students, making the situation worse. Also, if this is really an issue that people feel strongly about, why is it only one set of toilets - which are rarely used - which are being covered with a flimsy piece of paper? Does it not undermine the entire plight?
Frankly, though, most people are too busy trying to get a degree or a job, and worrying about things like housing, finances, graduating and their personal lives to give anything more than a passing interest in this issue. I’m surprised that it’s ruffled so many feathers - with people acting as if they are being forced to share facilities with the opposite sex, whereas in fact this has only happened in one set of toilets which most people probably didn’t even realise was there.