News
Success for all-gender bathroom initiative
By Kirsty Warren ’18
April 24, 2015
Driven by student activism and the need to make schools more inclusive for trans and gender-nonconforming students, more than 150 colleges across the country have implemented all-gender bathrooms on their campuses. Last semester, The Movement published a constitution which included a demand that one out of every two bathrooms on campus be made all-gender. Vice President and Dean of Students Nancy Thompson formed a committee of students and administrators to discuss the matter, and the Rainbow Alliance E-board drafted a proposal detailing the purpose and goals of the all-gender bathroom initiative. All-gender bathrooms “provide options for trans and gender non-conforming students who at best face discomfort and ridicule in gendered bathrooms and at worst face harassment and violence,” committee member Chris Lepre ’15 said.
Hamilton’s transition to all-gender bathrooms will take place in two main phases. The first phase, currently underway, involves converting gendered or unmarked single-stall bathrooms as well as bathrooms already functioning as all-gender to officially all-gender bathrooms. The second phase will be to convert a portion of multi-stall bathrooms to all-gender.
“We especially took note of our fellow NESCAC schools, and noticed that we were behind some of our peer institutions not only in terms of bathrooms, but overall trans inclusion. A group of students comprised data by going through every building on campus and noting which bathrooms were labeled all gender, which were functioning as such, and which were gendered,” Daphne Assimakopoulos ’17 said. “The process overall was definitely eye opening for me. After examining the infrastructure and steps taken at other institutions of higher education, I realized just how much Hamilton needed to do in order to really make our campus inclusive for everyone.”
The committee chose to transition to campus-wide all-gender bathrooms instead of implementing just a few all-gender options for several reasons. According to Lepre, the latter option “reinforces trans and gender non-conforming students as the exception to the rule, causes these students to have to out themselves by going to special bathrooms [and] creates potential health problems for students who feel too uncomfortable using gendered bathrooms and can’t find a nearby all-gender restroom.” The committee chose the term “all-gender” as opposed to “gender-neutral” to use the most inclusive terminology possible and recognize that there are more than two genders.
“Although the committee’s long-term vision is to convert as many gendered bathrooms as possible, it will come with the provision of always providing a single-stall option for those who feel uncomfortable using all-gender bathrooms,” Lepre said.
If in the future all multi-stall bathrooms are converted to all-gender, the Rainbow Alliance’s proposal calls for the mandatory inclusion of single-stall bathroom options. This would accommodate students who feel uncomfortable sharing a bathroom with people of different genders, students who are victims of sexual assault and thus fear further offenses or are triggered by such an environment and students whose religion forbids sharing a bathroom with students of different genders.
“All-gender bathrooms can be used by anyone, regardless of their gender identity. Segregated bathrooms can often be hostile spaces for transgender and non-binary people, as these spaces are so policed based upon conventional notions of gender,” Assimakopoulos said.
Around 65-70 all gender bathroom signs have already been installed in residence halls, according to Bill Huggins, associate director of Physical Plant. Huggins said that due to an error in the number of handicap bathroom signs ordered, the installation process stalled. The ship date for the correct number of signs is May 8.
With the exception of single-sex floors, all bathrooms in residence halls will become all-gender. Of course, buildings like Skenandoa, South and Carnegie have bathrooms inside rooms and will not be impacted. The third floors of both Dunham and North will become co-ed and will have all gender bathrooms for the fall of 2015, Assistant Dean of Students for Residential Life Travis Hill said.
“These changes in the residence halls are basically changes in name more than changes in practice,” Hill said. “That said, we feel that the change in name is important. We want our community to know we are intentionally creating a welcoming place for people of all gender expressions.”
“The all-gender restrooms project has sparked a larger conversation about how we serve and create an inclusive community for all students, including transgender and gender non-conforming students. As a result, I have created a Trans* Task Force, and we will soon be hosting a public meeting to help guide the work of this new committee,” Director of Diversity and Inclusion Amit Taneja said.
The timeline of the transition in academic buildings, athletic facilities and other buildings remains uncertain. Hill said this process will take more time because it involves the faculty and staff who work in these buildings.
“Our goal is to identify at least one all gender restroom in each building on campus and to have signs directing people to them,” Dean Thompson said. “All of this will happen over the summer and be in place by fall.”
Additionally, there will be a location on the Hamilton website outlining where all-gender bathrooms can be found, an action which has been taken at fellow NESCAC schools Wesleyan, Bates, Bowdoin, Williams and Tufts.
“We, the committee, feel that this solution will create the most options for the most number of people, and will create a safe environment and strong message of inclusion for current and prospective trans and gender non-conforming students,” Lepre said. “As many have said regarding this issue, it’s a change that will mean very little for those who aren’t directly affected by it, but it will mean the world for those who are.”