By AMANDA KRAUSE
The addition of three gender-inclusive bathrooms on campus last year is now garnering support as students begin to discover their existence.
President Mercer in fall 2014 announced the construction of these new restrooms to begin in E and G Wings’ respective first floors as well as in the recently constructed Adler Center for Nursing. A year later, support is still strong among students, many of whom are just learning of these new additions to campus.
“I wasn’t aware of the new bathrooms until this week, actually, so I’m really surprised that we have them” says sophomore Lindsay Panagia. “I didn’t hear anything about them from Ramapo, and I am never in those wings of campus. Still, it’s great. I don’t see many schools making the effort to install gender neutral bathrooms.”
Most of the minor negative feedback stems from the almost hidden locations of the three bathrooms.
“E and G Wings aren’t as crowded throughout the school day as say A or B Wings,” says Panagia. “The location of these bathrooms isn’t exactly ideal, but I think Ramapo’s moving in the right direction by adding any at all.”
In his 2014 State of the College address, President Mercer explained that the addition of these bathrooms would help keep Ramapo LGBT friendly and progressive. Ramapo College is not alone in its effort to raise awareness of the gender neutrality movement through inclusive bathrooms.
According to a study conducted by Time magazine, over 150 U.S. colleges have installed gender inclusive bathrooms on their campuses. Six major U.S. cities have also been acknowledged for their gender neutral bathroom provisions.
For some, gender neutral bathrooms are convenient. “Honestly, you don’t have to search for one specific bathroom. You can just use the first bathroom you see,” says Panagia.
The Necessity of Gender Neutral Bathrooms
The gender-neutral bathroom installation trend may be just that for some, but for others, they are a necessity.
“For non-passing transsexual students, using the bathroom which adheres to their identified gender can often be an issue because there have been instances of violence and discrimination directed towards them,” says Jerard Guevarra, a sophomore member of the Gender Equality at Ramapo club.
“Using the bathrooms which adhere to their gender assigned at birth may also result in discrimination and anxiety from misgendering,” added Guevarra. “Although such instances may or may not occur on our campus, there is a definite need for an increase in the number of gender neutral bathrooms for the safety of those who do not conform to the gender binary.”
Despite the overall success of these bathrooms on campus, some apprehensions have arisen among students just discovering the existence of such restrooms.
“I guess [the bathrooms] are a good idea, as long as they also have separate female bathrooms and male bathrooms as well,” says junior Vera Hionidis. “Simply, I wouldn’t feel comfortable if I could only use [gender neutral bathrooms].”
Not all opposition to gender neutrality is as forgiving. Just last year, the state of Indiana proposed a bill requiring citizens to use bathrooms matching the citizen’s birth certificate-labeled gender. Any resistance could result in $5,000 fines or even jail time, said Indiana State Government.
On the campus of Ramapo College, no further plans have yet been introduced to install more gender neutral bathrooms.
Love your quotes, they are all really strong and very informative. I didn’t know that over 150 US schools have introduced gender neutral bathrooms on campus, I thought it would be less. I’m happy to know it’s more than I thought! As for optimizing your headline, I feel like it’s great already. Maybe include who supports the gender neutral bathrooms? “Ramapo College Students Support Gender Neutral Bathrooms on Campus.”