Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/10/2011 (3271 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Students at the University of Winnipeg are pushing for gender-neutral washrooms for transgender people who don't feel comfortable having to choose between bathrooms for men or women.

Representatives of the U of W's Students' Association will meet with university administrators this morning to discuss having at least one transgender washroom on the main campus, UWSA president Lauren Bosc said Sunday.

Those behind the idea say transgender people are often harassed, bullied or embarrassed no matter which bathroom they choose. They even suggest the prospect of having to pick a gender-specific bathroom can lead to health issues, since many ignore the call of nature until they can find a suitable bathroom.

"Not everyone conforms to gender binaries of either male or female," said Ro Mills, a transgender student at the University of Winnipeg.

"I've seen a lot of other people's identities change while here at university and during that transition, even before, it can make going to the washroom really, really difficult or embarrassing. Using a public restroom shouldn't really be a privilege. It should just be a given right."

Students at both U of W and the University of Manitoba thought transgender washrooms were a done deal in March 2007.

Unfortunately, Bosc said, it was late in the school year and come September, some of the people who had been involved with the issue were no longer in student leadership positions.

"Four years ago, the conversation began, and there was education about it," Bosc said. "We thought it would be a really important thing to revitalize that."

There had been discussion about installing single-stall washrooms that would be open to anyone, requiring no gender-related labels. Some might have been big enough to accommodate wheelchairs, breastfeeding or diaper-changing as well.

Plans were bandied about to include transgender washrooms in the new science complex, which opened at U of W last month.

None of that happened, Bosc said.

This time, UWSA wants to get planning underway early in the school year, she said.

"Everything seems really positive. The big push is for a gender-neutral washroom accessible to all," Bosc said.

How to label the washroom is one of the most important questions, she said.

Bosc acknowledged it would be expensive to build a new washroom but the plumbing could be used or extended from existing washrooms.

U of M officials and student leaders could not be reached Sunday.

Gender-neutral washrooms are still a relative rarity.

The University of Western Ontario in London converted some bathrooms for the disabled to gender-neutral ones in 2008. The University of Victoria and McGill University in Montreal each have at least one gender-neutral washroom.

Some argue the bathrooms further stigmatize a group already striving for acceptance, but Mills said having a gender-neutral washroom that everyone could use would simply recognize the diversity of today's campus.

"If only exclusively identified transgendered people use this washroom, it would almost reverse its purpose," said Mills, director of the university's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centre.

"If that's the only people using it, you are almost ostracizing yourself again. The education part comes in to tell people that it's OK to use this washroom, even if you are completely comfortable using the gendered washrooms that you already use."

The University of Winnipeg says it's willing to change a few of its signs as early as this school year.

Debra Radi, executive director of the office of the university's vice-president, said senior administration wants to make the campus as inclusive as possible. No one has a sense of how many students would use gender-neutral bathrooms, she said, but the idea is worth considering if students are raising it.

The university recently submitted a grant proposal to the federal government seeking cash to pay for more accessible washrooms on campus. Gender-neutral bathrooms could be covered under that proposal, Radi said.

"Currently students are not feeling safe going into either a male washroom or a female washroom so we obviously do need to create safe spaces where they feel comfortable accessing facilities on campus."

-- The Canadian Press, with files from Nick Martin