Flushing Transphobia Away

The Students' Union toilets

Toilets were back on the agenda for Manchester students last Monday with the University of Manchester Students’ Union playing host to a debate on its new non-gender facilities.

Approximately 40 students turned up to ‘The Big Debate: Toilets and the Union’, which also gave students a chance to voice their opinions, although none of the panel speakers argued against the new toilets.

A media furor has surrounded the toilets since it surfaced in the national press that one set of toilets in the basement of the Steve Biko building had been de-gendered and traditional ‘male’ and ’female’ symbols replaced with temporary signs reading ‘toilets’ and ‘toilets with urinals’.

Dissenting voices amongst the student body have criticized the fact that students had not been consulted on the decision. Women’s Officer Jennie Killip spoke with dismay that objections to the toilets have manifested themselves in destructive ways, saying that, “signs have been ripped off these safe places.”

Challenging such transphobic attitudes was at the top of the agenda on Monday. First speaker Rebecca Dittman from The Gender Trust highlighted the history of transgender people “who have been in society for- forever really” and the problems which they face. “There is still bigotry, there is still hatred, but things are changing.”

Ruth Pearce, trans rep from the NUS Women’s Committee, emphasized that non-gender toilets would not pose a threat to the other toilet users. “We’re not a threat to women – trans people are a bit like spiders. They’re more scared of you than you are of them.”

Misrepresentations of the facts in the media were also criticized, as some reports assumed all Union toilets would become non-gender. “There are and always will remain gender toilets for those w ho prefer to use them,” assured Natalie Heppenstall from the University of Manchester’s LGBT Society.

Heppenstall was also keen to stress that these were not uniquely “trans toilets” as has been misconstrued in the media, citing the benefits for students with children and disabled students with care-assistants of the opposite sex.

Also, added Pearce, “We’ve now got an extra toilet if there is a queue.”

National press were banned from the event and a BBC film crew from The One Show were informed that they would be denied access to the Union.