BUZZ
‘Gender is not a binary […] so only having inaccessible, male and/or female restrooms is not acceptable’
It’s a good thing the University of California Berkeley has a student government to fight for the really pressing matters of the times.
It seems the basement bathroom of the chemistry and science education-related Latimer Hall is “gender-specific,” and so the Associated Students of the University of California wants it made gender-neutral, The Daily Californian reports.
The ASUC resolution, sponsored by founder of the “Women* and Nonbinary Caucus” Karuna Gray, said the Latimer restroom is a “priority” as it affects “all STEM students” and “poses both gender equity and ADA accessibility issues.”
(According to Gray’s LinkedIn page, the asterisk in “Women* and Nonbinary Caucus” is supposed to represent “all those who experience womanhood in past, present, future, fluid, body, spirit, and identity.”)
The resolution also notes gender-neutral bathrooms “exist in ‘obscure and/or far locations’ from major lecture halls, which forces gender-nonconforming individuals to walk farther to access facilities.”
It calls for “clear signage to the doorframe of every gender-neutral restroom facility and commit to updating physical and digital restroom maps to make the locations of gender-neutral facilities more clear.”
Gray said “gender is not a binary, and ability differs from person to person, so only having inaccessible, male and/or female restrooms is not acceptable for any university that claims it is inclusive and wishes to foster a positive campus community.”
According to UC Berkeley spokesperson Lindsey Michels, conversion of an existing campus facility “is done through a request-based process that takes into account feasibility, available funding and community needs.”
Michels said the ASUC proposal for Latimer Hall “would require a larger capital project due to the building’s structural conditions and applicable building code requirements.”
Previously at UC Berkeley, a group of students known as the “Bathroom Brigade” occupied campus restrooms and “covered up the gender icons on the doors” in an effort to force school officials to “put gender-neutral restrooms in every campus building.”
In 2017, the school put out $2.7 million for gender-neutral sports facility locker rooms. Then-ASUC President Will Morrow said the project was a “commitment to student holistic wellness” and “symbolically affirms our campus values of inclusivity and access for all.”
However, one group students don’t seem to care much about when it comes to bathrooms is the campus police. In 2018, officers were asked not to use university facilities “as it was upsetting some students.”
MORE: U. Kansas removes menstrual products from men’s bathrooms
MORE: SDSU students hold ‘Shit In’ to demand more gender-neutral bathrooms
