By Sarah Noble

Quick question: do you know where the gender neutral toilet in the union is?

It wouldn’t surprise me if you said you didn’t. It’s further along the corridor from the ground floor men’s toilets, by the way.

It doesn’t really help trans* students, or indeed any other students who may need use of such a facility, if they’re in LGBT coffee hour, or in Fruity, though. And there is a genuine need for these facilities. For a trans* student, even going to the toilet is a tricky chore. They must first assess whether the risk of assault, harassment, or even arrest is worth going to the toilet, or the risk of medical conditions from holding it in is worth it. Then, they need to assess which toilets they use – do they use the toilets which matches their gender identity or the gender they were assigned at birth? And after that, when and where should they use the toilet? Whereas most people who use the toilet have the privilege to not have to think about these things, it’s a source of severe distress for trans* people.

And it really doesn’t help when someone is verbally abused and pushed, within our Union, for simply going to the toilet, and several hours after the launch of LGBT history month at that. While the bouncers quickly and correctly dealt with the situation, it still creates an atmosphere whereby if you look even remotely trans*, you’re going to have to deal with this sort of harassment. It’s not on. And it makes life much, much, harder for these sorts of people. It’s why half of all trans people avoid using public restrooms.

I wish I could say that this is an isolated incident, but it’s not. Back in 2008, several trans* women were denied access to the toilets at London Pride that, legally, they have a right to use, simply because they are transgender. So what hope do trans* people have if this is happening at a Pride event? Not much: in 2011, a transgender woman was attacked in a McDonalds in Baltimore, again, for using the toilet. The employees didn’t help her in that case; they filmed the attack on their phones instead. We’re lucky that the staff in the Union are trained not to do that.

I think we can agree that no student should be assaulted for using the toilet, no matter what the reasons. People use the toilets because, obviously, they need to engage in certain essential bodily functions. That’s the entire point. And in Fruity on a Friday evening, I don’t think a trans* person is going to do any harm at all by their presence in a bathroom. Despite transphobic people saying their presence is dangerous, no-one has been able to cite one case of a trans* person assaulting others –it’s always the other way around. I, personally, would be much more concerned about people who grope others on the dance floor, and create this culture where others, especially women, are under undue pressure to guard themselves.

There is a simple way in which we can lessen the strain on trans* students a little bit. By creating gender-neutral spaces where these students can avail themselves, and encouraging their use, we can help create a safer environment for students. And I’m happy that Leeds is among the universities with such facilities, but just one out-of-the-way toilet isn’t enough. We should be working to converting or building these spaces. We have a new library opening in 18 months, and I hope that it is built with these accessible spaces for trans* people.

When other universities have said that their refurbishment plan came with gender neutral toilets, the usual suspects raise their arms up in indignation. They decry it as political correctness gone mad, that the toilets would somehow make gender-specific toilets more dangerous for female students. But it’s not political correctness gone mad to look after our trans* students, whether they amount to five, fifty, or five thousand. It’s a matter of public safety. We’d be failing at basic humanity were we to not cater for them. And I sincerely hope that the Union never fails at basic humanity.

Image: Leo Garbutt