College toilet

[Trinalbcnotanonman]

This is v outing.

How do I reply to this?

I thought female and male were biological not gender terms?

And as they are default unisex should the cubicals now be floor to ceiling?

And are they making sanitary products and bins available in both?

Ask them where are Muslim women supposed to go if they need to adjust their hijab? they are discriminating against women by making the womens unisex.
Why dont they just make the mens room unisex, and keep the women's room for women?

Do you feel daring enough to go in and have a look? Had my leg pressed up against a sanitary bin today, I bet men couldn’t put up with that.
Alternativrly, be a secret activistvand take the new signs down. The EA is still in place for now

That's three mixed sex toilets. What the fuck. What's the point of having any signs at all except 'toilets'. They're all mixed sex.

Personally, I would either remove the sign to the Females' or I would deface it.

If caught, I would say that I was acting to reduce the risk of sexual harassment, voyeurism and assault on women, by men, and felt that it was a reasonable precaution in the circumstances.

If I worked in the building or was a service users, I would make a formal complaint.

So the ‘accessible’ toilet isn’t just for disabled people? How many of these do they have?

The signs have been up since August. The email was sent today by the Student Association President.

They ate also not inclusive from a disability pov. Many individuals with conditions such as dementia or autism find just pictures very difficult to translate. These just add to their confusion.

blinks
So my reading of that would be -
Female = female biology eg, women, inclusive of trans men
Male = Male biology eg males, inclusive of trans women

and Gender neutral /disables: single modified toilet that would be accessible to those of both sexes with disabilities, where its access for those who are disabled should be promoted over any other group

I was hoping it was an effort at promoting the primacy of biological sex and therefore single sex spaces (Male/female) over gender terms.

That's confusing as the instructions in the email don't match the signs.

"Female including Trans toilet" I would interpret as women and all trans people (in either direction) being able to use. But the email implies it's for women and transwomen (not transmen). Likewise the 'Male including Trans' toilet.

The 'gender neutral' toilet is presumably the former disabled toilet. Everyone can now use that toilet.

Do the male toilets have sanitary product disposal facilities?

So surely this means all the toilets are gender neutral then?

Ah, I see it is even more confusing.

I interpreted Female = gender, therefore 'Female including Trans' meant women and transwomen. But if Female = biology then it's women and transmen.

If the signs included transwhatever in full then it would be clearer.

Still think the gender neutral toilet is for everyone, because I've never seen separate provision for female / male disabled people.

No, they're not all gender neutral. If that were the case all the signs would say 'Gender neutral' and there wouldn't be an instruction in the email to use the designated toilets.

Is there any chance you could reveal where this is?

Or just message me?

Is this an esteemed place of learning, OP? Cos if they can't manage to communicate coherent instructions about toilet use then I don't think it bodes well for their ability on more intellectual matters...

I think @Didactylos has it.

If they had read "women, including trans" I'd expect it to be used by women and trans women.

As it says "female including trans" I interpret that to be the biological female and trans men (who may still require sanitary bins).

I'm happy with those designations, I would not mind sharing an enclosed room with transmen (or gender fluid/non-conforming or butch-presenting females).

Or maybe female and Male in the generally accepted structural term. As in the example pictured. Which would also account for the very small number of 'traditional' (post surgical) transsexuals.

(Although, no, I'm not about to volunteer to police this)

Male and female are biological terms, so it means women and transmen and should be used as such.

This may not be what the writers intended, but I guess, we all have to learn at some point that words have meanings. College is a little late for that, but, hey, better now than never.

I hope that my interpretation is what they mean, as it would be a neat way to get around the gender confusion and specify sex segregated spaces are protected (while still signalling that trans peoples right to use the facilities is clear)

but I doubt that is what they meant
perhaps OP could email their department and clarify

I have emailed for clarity, using the eloquently worded posts above.

Will let you know

FYI.

Under regulation 20 of the Workplace (Health, safety and welfare) regulations 1992/3004 separate sanitary conveniences (loos) must be provided for ‘men’ and ‘women’ unless each convenience is in a separate room the door of which is capable of being secured from the inside. Seems to be still in force.

Presumable in law a person only counts as a ‘woman’ as a result of biology or having a GRC. If it was otherwise Stonewall wouldn’t need to be lobbying for self ID.

Are your loos all in self contained little rooms (no gaps above/below doors and partitions)?

If these are being designated as mixed sex facilities, In addition to chocolala’s post, not only must they be self contained rooms with proper floor to ceiling doors and walls the hand washing facilities must also be inside that room or they are in breach of regulations.

Cubicles with external hand washing facilities are NOT acceptable.

Kick up a massive fuss.

I went to a mcdonalds in birmingham, where you have to go through a mixed handwashing area and through an open door to get to the ladies toilets, then out again to wash your hands. Never going there again.

Where’s the bit about hand washing facilities from? Need it at work...

I’ll find it...