While some people are freaking out about the prospect of transgender people using the “wrong” bathrooms, one NYC college is nixing gender identifications for bathrooms altogether.
New York City’s Cooper Union has completely removed “male” and “female” signs for the restrooms that service the school’s 1,000 students, and has chosen to replace them with signs that read “restroom with urinal and stalls” and “restroom with only stalls.”
The move seems to be a response to the transgender bathroom issue that has been riling up conservatives as of late. Cooper Union President Bill Mea has some pretty solid reasoning behind the decision.
In an interview with The Guardian, he said:
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“When people see someone who they think doesn’t belong there, it can create stress for everyone. So we thought, let’s just take that away. Visitors are figuring it out pretty quickly, too. From a practical standpoint, very little will actually change in our day-to-day use of restrooms.
I cannot change the outside world and how it treats transgender and gender non-conforming people… but I can change the Cooper Union environment to help everyone feel safe when they are inside our buildings.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, and we’re glad to see Cooper Union taking a sane and reasonable approach to dealing with the issue.
JAW
While I believe that Trans friends need a safe comfortable place to relieve themselves… This is a bit to far.
I think that every small one seater restroom should be open to all… to change signs on the larger group ones is not the answer. Other people have a right to fell comfortable in their space… No need for a bunch of women to invade the mens room or for men to invade the ladies room…
Trans people should be able to use the room that best suits how they identify… same for the rest of us.
Brian
@JAW: You should use the restroom that aligns with your sex, the one Mother Nature gave you.
joeyty
College kids and the academic crowd could REALLY make a difference…..to the environment, if they get rid of restrooms and just keep buckets in the rooms.
Ummmm Yeah
This is such stupid garbage. These far left crazies are going to do to liberals and the democratic parties what Teabillies did to conservatism and the republican party.
Kangol
If the students are cool with it, why not? Cooper Union needs to return to its status as one of the few US private schools with free tuition, from 1859 until 2014. Destroying that was one of the great tragedies in US higher ed history.
Chris
I’m willing to be that women will insist that they go back to gender-designated bathrooms.
My reasoning is that men will have no difficulty going into any bathroom — with or without urinals — to do whatever they need to do. However, I think many women will have issues with using bathrooms that have urinals in them simply because they are more likely to encounter men in them. The result will be that the number of men’s bathrooms has just increased; while women’s access to bathrooms where they feel safe will be decreased.
GC1985
@Brian: Coming from the coward that’s ironic.
@Chris: Funny how people like you use the same reasoning as the Christian right. Every place that has adopted gender neutral bathrooms has seen absolutely no increase in any sort of assault or other crime. stop using that tired argument. It has no basis in reality.
Violent Rainbow
I feel sorry for women, men are truly disgusting creatures in the bathroom I’m honestly shocked all this is happening just to please a very small minority of people I mean how many trans people can there be at one university? 2? 3? Certainly not many more than that but to make them happy EVERYONE has to share the same bathroom? Wow.
GC1985
@Violent Rainbow: So you are fine with trans men using women bathrooms?
I can’t believe some in our community are as dumb as the bigots that discriminate against gay people.
You are using the same kind of intolerance.
Daniel-Reader
As people have pointed out lately, you have already used a restroom with a transgender person and you are just fine.
Tracy Pope
@Brian: That’s as stupid as the hateful christians calling marriage between a man and a woman “natural marriage”. Your sense of decorum might take a hit but the idea of “we just don’t do that” is a mindless response (Though to a bigot or misogynist it is a common response).
Miss Understood
People are so resistant to change…then when the change happens it’s really no big deal after a short while. Look at same sex marriage. It was unthinkable just a few years ago, many of us never believed it would happen, certainly not nationally. Did the sky fall? Did the American Family crumble? Embrace the same path of progress that you to where you are gay people!
Glücklich
@Daniel-Reader:
Agreed.
The bigger surprise is Cal wasn’t the first school to make this a thing.
Glücklich
@Glücklich:
Cal or SFSU.
Chris
@GC1985: Actually, I’m in favor of single sex, individualized bathrooms.
But I have two sisters who I shared this with. Neither of them likes the idea of a man entering the woman’s bathroom. This new signage leaves that possibility open.
They do not object to transwomen using the bathrooms; and neither do I.
Hence my prediction that women will demand something more focused.
GC1985
@Chris: I think your thoughts are presumptuous and demeaning. Stop acting like you can speak for women and please don’t bring up personal anecdotes. I don’t care what your sisters think.