MANKATO, Minn. -
Men's or women's bathroom? It's a decision most of us make daily with out much thought, but for people that are transgender or gender non–conforming, the decision is not that easy.
That is why some MSU students are working to raise awareness for the importance of access to gender–neutral bathrooms.
MSU LGBT Program Advisor Julia Keleher says, "Those who don't fit into the male/female roles, they have a hard time, they feel uncomfortable, there are safety issues."
Student Meghan Babcock says, "The situations could be as simple as somebody who doesn't present as the gender they identify with walking into a bathroom and getting a look."
LGBT Coordinator Jessica Flatequal says, "You can feel very isolated and ashamed of yourself when you walk into a bathroom and people are like "Hey what are you doing in here, you don't belong in here,' and in fact you do."
The MSU LGBT community is hoping for more gender-neutral bathrooms on campus for the comfort and safety of all students.
Flatequal says, "There are also incidences of violence that can happen for people who enter a bathroom that they don't feel comfortable in or other people don't feel comfortable with them in there and that can result in people actually being harmed."
Students hope to show people that more gender–neutral bathrooms like this can help eliminate a lot of worry and strife for people.
Flatequal says, "And that includes people from the disabled community, people that are caretakers for other people, that includes parents who have children of the opposite gender."
Babcock says, "Our ultimate goal is to raise awareness but it would be fantastic if we could get more gender neutral spaces on our campus."
Flatequal says, "We can always do better and we need to look forward to make sure that in the future all of our building accommodate everyone as best that they can."
The LBGT Center at MSU is hosting a Viewing of the Film Toilet Training and a Panel Discussion on the issue Tuesday at 2 PM in The Ostrander Auditorium.
