WSU Vancouver staff and alumni spark conversation on how the amount and placement of gender neutral bathrooms affect the campus community.
In reflection of Nov. 20, Transgender Day of Remembrance, advocates and members of the LGBTQ+ communiy question whether or not WSU Vancouver provides enough safe spaces for the transgender and non-binary community on campus.
According to WSU Vancouver’s website, the campus has three single-stalled, gender-inclusive bathrooms on campus. These can be found on the first floor of the Physical Plant Building, the ground floor of the Undergraduate Building and the second floor of the McClaskey Building.
Psychology professor Kimber Saville, explained her thoughts on the lack of inclusive bathrooms on campus and what it means for some students who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community.
“That’s a huge concern. Especially because I have a lot of students who are transgender and non-binary and I see them and can’t imagine being on campus all day not having a safe space to use the restroom,” Saville said. “To feel like you have to go somewhere where you aren’t comfortable or don’t feel safe. There’s a lot of negative consequences to that.”
Saville explained high anxiety and depression can occur within transgender and non-binary indiviuals, especially when they are misidentified and feel unsafe within their own community.
Office of Student Involvement adviser and former WSU Vancouver student, Shain Wright, who uses they/them pronouns, started their own club, the Gender-Inclusivity Committee, in 2016.
“I remember, as a student, talking to other students who would say they literally scheduled their classroom choices around what bathrooms they could access. So, they wouldn’t put classes back to back because then they wouldn’t be able to go to the bathroom across campus,” Wright said. “When people are scheduling their classes around when they can access the bathroom, I think that’s a pretty big deal.”
When asked how WSU Vancouver could be more accommodating to non-binary and transgender students, Wright said student activism could be the change the campus needs.
“I’m sure there are some things we could do better and I am sure there are things we’re doing well that aren’t being highlighted,” Wright said. “A lot of things come out of student activism, so what are students passionate about?”
Wright said, when students express their passion about issues requiring activism on campus, they have support within the community.
They said the club would have an event called Gender-Neutral Bathroom Week, where the club would pick a bathroom in each building and turn it into a gender-neutral bathroom for that week. The last Gender-Neutral Bathroom week at WSU Vancouver was held in April 2017.
Although three gender-inclusive bathrooms may not be enough to accommodate all transgender and non-binary students on campus, Saville and Wright both suggest to start change by addressing these issues and creating conversations about inclusivity and advocacy.
Emily is a senior studying integrated strategic communication at WSU Vancouver.