Students Petition Law School To De-gender Bathrooms
A Seattle University law student, Seth Alexander, started a petition on campus for the School of Law to de-gender its bathrooms.
Alexander named lack of access as the main issue—the only readily accessible gender-neutral bathrooms in the building are on the third floor and are only accessible through the library.
Alexander and other gender non-conforming students often avoid going to the restroom while in the law school because of this.
“Due to the disproportionate amount of class time that I would miss, I do not really have the option of using the bathroom during class,” the petition stated. “Most days, I schedule my bathroom breaks and regulate my liquid intake. Sometimes, on busy days when I do not have a break, I will just wait until I get home.”
The petition also raised concerns about safety for gender non- conforming students who are forced to use gendered restrooms, citing a 2013 study conducted by UCLA in which 70% of transgender respondents reported denial of access, harassment, or assault when attempting to use gendered restrooms.
Cloie Chapman, a third-year JD candidate said that the issue of gender- neutral restrooms is one of safety. “For people who are trans or non- binary, the fear is very real and present,” Chapman said.
While Chapman understands the potential for discomfort, she believes that this change would mutually benefit everyone at the law school.
“I think we should really change our perspectives,” Chapman said. “Gender is fluid and we shouldn’t make people go to one room or the other just to use the restroom. I understand that some people have to come around to that, so part of this petition is an educational aspect.”
In a 2012 report from the Social Justice Leadership Committee of the Seattle U School of Law, many issues were raised concerning access to gender-neutral restrooms and awareness of their locations.
“Gender-neutral bathrooms are located in remote or difficult to access spaces where they are hidden from public view and are not always accessible during the school’s open hours,” the report stated.
Part of the recommendations from the report have not yet been acted upon, such as the advertisement of gender-neutral bathroom locations on the School of Law website. At this time, the School of Law website lacks any map or directory for gender- neutral restroom locations.
The Seattle U website has a map with markers for buildings with gender- neutral restrooms across campus, but not their specific location.
The report also called for a gradual de-gendering of the existing restrooms in the law school, involving remodeling them into multi-stall, gender-neutral spaces. A recommendation to implement this policy requires that all future additions to the law school have gender-neutral options on primary floors.
Alexander’s petition proposes some of the recommended changes from the 2012 report, most prominently the proposal to remodel the existing restrooms in the law school to accommodate gender non- conforming students.
Alexander agrees with the proposed remodeling—outlining this solution in his petition—and hopes that the petition will spark dialogue on the issue. “I believe in other people’s capacity to question and see beyond the narratives represented,” Alexander said.
Bryan Adams, Professor of Law, believes the petition to be a step in the right direction. “I think that the petition is a good idea and I think the letter is really well-written and reasonable in what it’s asking the law school to do,” Adams said.
Adams also expressed concern for the difficulty his gender non- conforming students face when they need to use the restroom. “Some of my students who are trans do not have options nearby where most of the classes are held,” Adams said. “The efforts that they have to go through to use the restroom in a place that’s safe and feels safe to them is a very real challenge.”
The petition has already received over two hundred signatures and encourages the support of many Seattle law institutions. Alexander is thankful for the support he has received during the process and is confident that the Seattle U community is supportive of the issue. “I expect the support from my peers because I’m aware of the kind of generation that we are, but from faculty, I have not expected that. To have that on my side has been very valuable,” he said. Awareness of the need for gender-neutral restrooms has increased on college campuses nationwide. How the Seattle U School of Law fits into this will likely be decided in the coming months.
Alexander stated that Annette Clark, Dean of the SU School of Law, has received the petition and is planning to meet with Alexander soon.
Erick may be reached at [email protected]
thomas sullivan
Nov 27, 2019 at 10:21 am
Our law school has the usual “use the restroom” that fits your preference signage. But, know what? The girls use the girls restroom and the boys use the boys restroom. In reality, people want it that way.
LawProf John Banzhaf
Oct 23, 2019 at 3:17 pm
It’s not necessary to “de-gender” all restrooms at a law school to satisfy the needs of the small number of trasgender students, and also the concerns of a much larger number of female students who may, when everyone is pressed for time, have to wait much longer than men to relieve themselves in a restroom (the issue known as “potty parity”).
All that is necessary is to take one or more traditional multi-user male restrooms and, by changing the sign to “All Gender,” make them equally available to females, LGBT students, etc.
At my law school at George Washington University, we did exactly that, and it has worked out very well.
Since our new “All Gender” restroom contains one stall as well as three urinals, women, trans-men, trans-women, and others can use it without either announceing their gender or feeling out of place by being forced to use the “wrong” restroom.
It also avoids the problem of having persons with a penis using a restroom frequented by typical women and girls who may feel embarrassed, see it as an invasion of well-recognized norms of sexual privacy, etc.
For reasons which probably are obvious, typical men rarely if ever express concern or embarrassment if persons with a vagina share their restroom.
Here’s more information:
WJLA-TV – Could Male, Female Restrooms Be a Thing of the Past? GWU Tries out ‘All-gender’ Restroom
https://bit.ly/2XMwHTr
“The university has opened an ‘all-gender’ restroom that is open to every person, regardless of gender identification. The restroom consists of three urinals and one stall, the urinals just inches away from the sink and stall.”
“Now, both types of transgender students – male-to-female and female-to-male – will no longer have to choose between using the restroom assigned to their anatomical gender, or using the one of the other gender where other users are likely to become angry because of an apparent breach of their sexual privacy.”
“Practically any college can do what GWU did, turning a formerly all-male restroom with three urinals and one toilet stall into an ‘all-gender restroom’ by simply changing the sign outside the door from ‘men’s restroom’ to ‘all-gender restroom.’”
“Many students with whom WJLA spoke say this is a step in the right direction for the transgender community.”
The WJLA article concluded – “If this “all-gender” bathroom is well-received, Banzhaf believes most other colleges could eventually open all-gender bathrooms of their own.”
Unfortunately, this does not seem to have occurred even though it is such a simple and inexpensive means of providing more than adequate restroom facilities for transgender students and faculty.
Indeed, since most buildings are designed with a male multi-user restroom paired with a nearby female multi-user restrooms, simply converting the male multi-user restrooms into a all-gender multi-user restrooms – at the cost of simply changing the sign on the door – would provide more than enough restroom facilities for all gender-nonconforming people.
See also,
ABA JOURNAL – Law Prof Says His School Is on the Cutting Edge When it Comes to Restrooms
https://bit.ly/2oKloiQ
“George Washington University Law School has plunged into a national debate by creating a multiple-use, multi-occupant coed restroom, according to one GW law professor.”
“Last December the law school relabeled as ‘all gender’ a pre-existing male-only restroom with three urinals and a stall.”
“The revamped restroom is a cost-effective way to address the concerns of transgender students torn between using the facilities for either men or women.“
AMD LAW GROUP – George Washington University Law School Creates Unisex Restrooms
https://bit.ly/2oMa7hZ
“Well, what makes GW’s restrooms so different from other schools who have taken on this challenge? Lots of colleges have unisex restrooms that are single seater or single user. But GW’s restroom goes much further. If a woman walks in, uses the stall and then goes to wash her hands, she could be standing almost thigh-to-thigh with a guy using a urinal, with no modesty wall.”
THE COLLEGE FIX – ‘Potty parity’: Yale Law Converts Two Restrooms to ‘All-Gender’ for LGBT Students
https://bit.ly/2JAwv63
OBSERVER – Bathroom Break: Designers Create New Generation of Gender-Neutral Restrooms
https://bit.ly/2pG1AxB
PUBLIC INTEREST LAW PROFESSOR JOHN BANZHAF