About the Event: Restrooms are spaces where the most intimate actions take place–regular bodily functions, private conversations, emotional breakdowns, lonely lunches and in classic times, the cheeky smoke. Yet their designs are built to evade just that; they intend to make what’s private, public.
This Project Humanities conversation is a workshop - From Bathrooms to Restrooms: When the Private Becomes Public wherein diverse community members will come together to acknowledge the common discomfort with current designs of many public restrooms. Through performance and dialogue, attendees will share personal experiences while building community and compassion for others. Since the personal is public in the literal and figurative bathroom space, I remember first hearing news of the “bathroom debate” and thinking that this was one of the silliest things I had ever heard. Nearly eight years later, I recognize not only the human rights violations of erasing my personal existence, but the growing need for empathy and compassion for all.
Why?: In 2023, I feel like I’ve been transported back to 2015-- my first year in Arizona when the bathroom debate was still prevalent and my younger self still religiously conservative and grappling with deep internalized homophobia. Now, I am out as a pansexual non-binary person, and the same state Senator, John Kavanagh, is back to proposing an anti-school trans bathroom bill, of which Republican senators in the state senate have approved and passed on to the legislature.
I’ve always felt uncomfortable in public restrooms (why do stalls have a 1 foot opening on the bottom?!). No, I’m not one of those people that can never use a public toilet, yet let’s admit that the experience in the U.S. is usually far from comfortable. The epitome of these bad restroom designs is witnessed (and reluctantly used) in public education buildings. I know of many who can write an endless list of what makes a public restroom a dreadful experience–large cracks in stall doors, lack of toilet paper, questionable toilet cleanliness, doors that open inwards squeezing you between said questionable toilet and the rigid stall door, and let’s not forget the smells and the echoing sounds.
German Toilets: Yes, the public restroom as we know it in the U.S. is an “interesting” experience. Quite recently, I was living my best life as a poor Master’s student at a German university. Times were quite tumultuous then, balancing the joys of quality public transportation and cheap shawarma with all of the challenges of an immigrant experience. My mental health in Berlin was overall great, and once I moved back to the US, I realized one of the factors contributing to said mental health–restrooms (public ones, specifically). Throughout most of my time in Berlin, we had what were called ‘FLINTA’ restrooms. This is an acronym for ‘women, lesbians, inter, non-binary, trans and agender people’ in German (Frauen=women). Don’t ask me how lesbian fits into what is more or less a sex/gender grouping acronym. Perhaps it’s the history of gender non-conformity amongst lesbians, but I digress.
As someone who had semi-recently come out as non-binary, I took great comfort in being recognized in public spaces. It made me feel, dare I say, safer. Even my university building, the Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, created new signs for a FLINTA toilet and “all gender,” which replaced the formerly binary “Men’s” and “Women’s” restrooms on the ground floor. Many stalls in multi-user restrooms, such as the one at my university, did not have gaps in which curious eyes could easily peek through and under. More commonly, restrooms were single person -use in public spaces such as restaurants or bars. This makes it easier to do without exclusionary signage. I know that these spaces aren’t perfect, but I do know that I felt lighter and freer to be myself in these spaces.
I didn’t quite realize the extent to which something as insignificant as gender-inclusive restrooms could have on my mental health until I returned to Arizona. I quickly found myself working 40 hours in a higher education institution in which the closest restrooms strictly followed the gender binary (note, there are no single-use accessibility restrooms in our building). Here, it has reappeared, the everpresent anxiety of entering a multi-user public restroom. The agony of being surrounded by people who I don’t identify with, a constant reminder that I don’t fit in.
On Gender Segregation: Anti-gender inclusive restroom arguments often include the statement “Well, they’ve done it their whole lives, so why can’t they live with it?’” The discomfort is just the tip of the iceberg. This discomfort, as it stands, is only tolerable if we aren’t cisgendered straight white males (who I’m sure would like to make their discomfort be known if the roles were switched). Discomfort is negligible, not life-threatening, and quiet. It’s just mental health at stake, nothing much.
When I reached out to Human Resources at my current workplace about my level of discomfort with the lack gender inclusive, let alone single-use restrooms in our building, I was promptly told that I was welcome to use whichever restroom I felt comfortable with and that there are “gender neutral” restrooms all over campus, except…in our building. I timed it. The closest restroom is a 3-minute walk and a flight of stairs away. In my semi-hourly commute to this ADA-compliant single-use restroom that took 6 times as long to get to (usually 30 seconds), I started to understand the hurt behind unequal gendered segregation.
Human Rights for My ‘Minority’: In an ideal world where having to commute longer and work harder to use a restroom I feel safe using doesn’t impose any impact on myself or other non-binary people, there is still a looming issue. The continued use of cisgender bathroom signs and facility hardware continuously erases the identity and existence of anyone who doesn’t exist within this binary. Our Western society has insisted that sex and gender exist in a binary when historically (and scientifically), that is not the case. We must look at the erasure of non-binary and transgender people as a human rights issue, and believe it or not, we do exist. In response to people who say that we over exaggerate–I’m looking at you Chad– when we use the term “violence” in regard to the lack of recognition, this language would not seem so out of place when used in the context of minority populations abroad. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, acknowledging existence is key to the promotion and protection of minoritized people. In a society that views people strictly as cisgendered, transgender and non-binary people are the minority. Refusing to acknowledge our existence through improper restroom signage, lack of recognition on census and survey forms, and lack of representation in the media expose us to actual violence. Not only that, but erasure of our existence perpetuates the inability for institutions to protect us.
On intersectionality: Inclusive restrooms are not just important to transgender and non-binary people. Inclusive restrooms can benefit everyone– people with larger bodies, families, people with disabilities, caregivers, people with anxiety– and the list continues. It has been far too long that architects and interior designers have not had inclusivity in mind. While we cannot realistically restructure every restroom in the US, we can start by choosing to acknowledge various gender identities and sexes. New buildings should be built with inclusive design such as Stalled!, designed in response to the rescinded Title IX protections guaranteeing trans individuals access to sex-segregated public toilets that align with their gender identity.
After realizing that not much will change after a simple email to HR, I started to ponder the reasons that it seems superfluous to accommodate one person. Well, I may be one person who asked, but I am surely not the only person who would benefit from a more inclusive space. One of the conclusions that I came to in prepping for this event is that there is a lack of compassion and awareness for those who need and want inclusive restroom design. I therefore invite you to build compassion, self-reflection, respect, empathy–to center humanity– in this upcoming Project Humanities event.
RSVP for this Event Here and grow in community and compassion - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/548115146157
Resources to Explore More: