North Carolina's Anti-Unisex Bathroom Controversy Versus SUNY Oneonta's Gender Neutral Bathrooms

By: Bridget Greene

ONEONTA, NY - Anti-unisex bathroom laws have been facing major backlash after being passed in North Carolina. These laws attempt to regulate the usage of male and female bathrooms by those who strictly have that gender marked on their birth certificate.

Gender Neutral Bathroom Symbol

States with pending anti-unisex bathroom legislation include Arkansas, Kentucky, and Missouri. These states and many others have similar discriminatory laws in the works.

Policy makers argue that these measures are necessary in order to protect people's privacy and public safety. However, members of the LGBT community feel otherwise, due to the fact that these laws take away basic human rights for those who may not identify as neither male nor female.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCroy took to Twitter after signing the bill writing,"Ordinance defied common sense, allowing men to use women's bathroom/locker room[s] for instance. That's why I signed bipartisan bill to stop it."

Kristin Blinne, a professor within SUNY Oneonta's Communication and Media department reacted to these laws stating, "Every time we take a few steps forward as far as making a more inclusive, tolerant, compassionate world where people can actually operate with some level of dignity we take ten steps back because now people get scared after asking for a change."

Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo responded to these discriminatory laws by issuing a temporary ban on all nonessential travel to North Carolina. While announcing the ban Cuomo stated, "In New York, we believe that all people, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation, deserve the same rights and protections under the law."

State Universities within New York such as Oneonta define Cuomo's beliefs that all people deserve the same rights. In return, administrators at the college wants students to feel comfortable during their time at college, which is why SUNY Oneonta has initiated gender neural bathrooms across its campus.

1 of nearly 30 Gender Neutral Bathroom Facilities

There are nearly thirty gender neutral bathrooms scattered across SUNY Oneonta's campus in places like residence halls, academic buildings, dinning halls, and administration buildings. Dan Sauger, a SUNY Oneonta student said, "Gender neutral bathrooms can help a student at Oneonta be more comfortable, especially if they feel they are gender neutral, gender fluid, or agender."

Gender neutral bathrooms on campus should be viewed as a safe space for students who are transgender or do not identify with their biological sex. Neutrality helps students feel as though they have access to safe spaces all throughout campus. Anti-Unisex bathroom laws take these safe spaces away from these groups causing discomfort as well as discrimination.

"Campuses across the country are trying really hard to have the institutional systems rise to our changing understandings of gender identity and expression and the fact that SUNY Oneonta has tried to put forward facilities for gender neutral bathrooms is a great foundation to start from." However, Professor Blinne feels these facilities should be more easily accessible places where more students are able to use them.

Gender Neutral Bathroom sign, located in Hunt Union

Blinne acknowledges that people may be hesitant towards this change due to safety in separation as well as the rising odds that students may see and acknowledge those who they may not be used to. She went on to say, "People go with the assumption that they can see gender and they can see how someone identifies based on the interpretation of someone's gender expression, this is highly problematic. It's this idea that we can see gender and then police it accordingly," said Blinne.

Senior Dan Sauger feels that there should be male and female bathrooms along with gender neutral bathrooms on campus for those who may not be completely comfortable with this new change, which is SUNY Oneonta's current policy.

Overall, what is most important is that all people be treated equally and that all people respect the not so obvious differences in others. The creation of spaces like gender neutral bathrooms move towards equality, which we can only hope for in states like North Carolina.