JOANNA GRAHAM
The Manitoban (University of Manitoba)

WINNIPEG (CUP) — The University of Winnipeg aims to have gender-neutral washrooms on campus by the end of the academic year.

The U of W Students’ Association and the LGBT* Centre met on Oct. 17 with school administration to discuss the issue.

“It was a very positive meeting and we’re incredibly lucky that [the]administration here understands how important it is to make sure that all aspects of the university are inclusive,” said Lauren Bosc, UWSA president.

According to Bosc, the issue of gender-neutral washrooms had been raised in 2007 but because of student leader turnover the conversation had “quieted down.”

Bosc said her goal was to have the implementation of gender-neutral washrooms complete by the end of this school year.

The U of W administration is involved as a collaborator in exploring how gender-neutral washrooms can be implemented.

“If students identify as transgendered, they need to have a safe space where they feel comfortable in terms of meeting a basic need like going to the washroom,” said Debra Radi, the U of W executive director of the office for the vice-president academic.

Of course, labelling is an important issue for the gender-neutral washrooms.

“I’m in favour of something very discreet such as ‘washroom’ because that’s what it is,” said Ro Mills, director of the U of W LGBT* Centre.

“There’s a need, just in terms of inclusive spaces,” Mills said. “Not everybody falls within the binary of male or female…. Everybody should be able to use the washroom with ease and accessibility.”

Meanwhile, across town, University of Manitoba Students’ Union president Camilla Tapp said she thought the U of W’s push for gender-neutral washrooms is great and UMSU is happy to support the organizers.

Tapp said that gender-neutral washrooms have been a long-standing issue on the U of M campus and that the students’ union has heard from various students that the issue needs to be resolved.

“I think it’s definitely worthwhile to have all future construction include gender neutral washrooms, and we would like to see the U of M commit to that,” Tapp said.

The U of M currently has unisex washrooms but they are not the same as gender-neutral washrooms, says David Vo, co-ordinator of the U of M Rainbow Pride Mosaic. The unisex washrooms still have signs that indicate the male and female genders.

“In order for it to be truly gender-neutral, there must not be any signs that indicate males or females,” he said.

Gender-neutral bathrooms have not been a prominent issue at University of Saskatchewan students’ council meetings. There are currently around 80 unisex bathrooms on the U of S campus.

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Photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf