The Oshkosh Student Association Senate and Assembly both unanimously passed a motion to rename all single-occupancy restrooms on campus to gender-neutral/family restrooms.
Currently, the 42 single-occupancy restrooms are labeled as either "unisex," "family" or are gender specific. Oshkosh senior and OSA Senator Travis Swanson brought this issue to the OSA's attention because there are some people who find these labels misleading or offensive.
"Many people still are under the impression that gender still fits into the two simple boxes with total disregard for transgendered or gender-queer people," Swanson said. "Gender is not as clear-cut as it has been in the past. I felt the resigning of all single-occupancy restrooms was a simple solution to making people on campus that do not fit into the box of ‘male' or ‘female' feel more safe and comfortable."
One student didn't think that the name of the bathrooms was such a big issue.
"I was unaware that such bathrooms were in existence on our campus and that they were causing an issue," senior Zach Kemp said. "I personally don't see it as a big deal."
Swanson's resolution in support of gender-neutral/family restrooms, which was presented to the OSA Senate, states that "gender-neutral restrooms are safer and more comfortable for transgender, gender-queer … individuals and parents and guardians of young children cannot accompany their different-gendered children to restrooms that are gender specific."
The current restrooms pose a much larger issue than mislabeling because there is the concern that transgender, gender-queer, intersex and other non-gender conforming individuals abstain from using the public restrooms, according to Swanson's resolution.
This also becomes an issue for those on campus who need a caretaker or assistance due to disabilities.
Currently these individuals are unable to use restrooms if the two have different genders.
Swanson received a number of supporters for this movement on campus, including the LGBTQ Resource Center and Council, the Social Justice Advisory Committee and the Office of Disabilities Services.
All were advocates in the inclusion of gender-neutral restrooms on campus.
In response to Swanson's resolution, Liz Cannon, director of the LGBTQ Resource Center, wrote in full support.
The Council's response said, "Part of our mission is to advocate for the needs of LGBTQ faculty, staff and students on the UW-Oshkosh campus ... Our recent Campus Climate Survey reminds us that there are far more transgender individuals on campus….One of the first crucial steps to creating a trans-friendly campus is to provide gender neutral bathrooms."
In the same response, the LGBTQ Resource Center also noted the needs of those on campus who have a family or assistance personnel.
When asked why she felt that this was a necessity for the campus, Cannon said, "I had a student who was often mistaken for male and was given much grief when she used the women's restroom – to the point where this was a major factor in her decision to leave UW-Oshkosh."
Other UW system universities such as Green Bay, La Crosse and Milwaukee, as well as the University of Chicago, the University of New York, Cornell and many others have, in response to student action, increased the number of gender-neutral bathrooms on their campuses.
However, not all students see urgency in this matter.
"The overall idea, changing titles to become more politically correct, can cause a slippery slope," senior Chelsey Orlikowski said.
Swanson's resolution also said, "OSA supports and promotes diversity, and therefore should aim to meet the demands of all student's needs."
Since this proposal is an inclusion to the family demographic on campus, the same resolution calls for the University to increase the amount of baby changing stations located in the gender-neutral/family restrooms.
"I think it's good for those that are transgendered or have families because it adds that extra bit of privacy they otherwise may not have had on something that should be private," Will Cantwell, a junior, said.
Swanson developed a strong interest in campus equality when he became the chair of students for a Fair Wisconsin in 2007.
Within that organization, Swanson worked to achieve Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) equality. He furthered his focus onto activism after taking a variety of courses at Oshkosh.
"While taking a special topics class called ethnic women activists with (professor) Jordan Landry, I realized even more than before that we have not achieved full gender equality on our campus, and I believed it is a cause worth fighting for," Swanson said.
Since the unanimous vote to pass the renaming of the restrooms, it now moves to Senate of Academic Staff, Classified Staff and Faculty Senate.
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10 comments
The cost, that is being questioned here is minimal, as they are only changing small signs on restroom doors. The cost for those individuals who do not have safe restrooms and who then become victims of violence when they are forced to use gender specific restrooms for which others decide do not fit for them, is huge. (And yes, this is a signficant problem, as violence against many transgender or genderqueer individuals actually does occur in restrooms).
What continues to baffle me is how people who oppose this come to these conclusions. What do you gain by trying to keep things the way they are? Your university saved a few dollars? How much money did they "waste" on other things that don't directly benefit you? The only conclusion I can imagine is that it makes people uncomfortable to acknowledge that people do not always fit the categories of male and/or female. So for trans people, they are told, "No, you cannot have your own restroom" and also "No, you cannot use the ones that are available and gender specific", and some are willing to beat, kill, or rape, to keep it that way.