“Unisex Bathrooms for Diversity” sounds like the title of an article at The Onion but this is real. Anyone would sympathize with someone who needs a bathroom but can’t find one. That’s not what’s happening here though.

This is a demand for the right kind of bathroom.

Carla Solorzano of The Shorthorn reports.

Modern diversity calls for unisex bathrooms

Liam Stone said he has not used a public bathroom in years.

“The last time must have been in high school,” the English language junior said. “I graduated in 2005.”

Stone is a transgender individual who identifies as a “trans masculine gender queer,” and doesn’t feel comfortable using public male or female restrooms anywhere. Stone uses his apartment’s bathroom.

“The fact that I have to plan my day so carefully is something to consider,” he said.

Kallie Wilson and John Morris are collecting the information necessary to file a formal proposal to improve the gender-neutral bathroom identification at UTA. Both are graduate interns for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Ally Program.

Wilson said it’s not easy to locate gender neutral, unisex or single-occupancy bathrooms on campus. The only facility Wilson and Morris are able to recognize is a single-occupancy restroom in the Maverick Activities Center.

“There may be more but they’re not labeled,” said Morris.

Wilson and Morris believe that transstudents are marginalized, even at a diverse university like UTA.

Frank Lamas, Student Affairs vice president, said there are no plans for more unisex bathrooms on campus.


 
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