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Public toilets: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Piptoilets.jpg|thumb|alt=A comic of one nonbinary person's ideal public toilet situation; toilet doors with signs of toilets and urinals, rather than the usual male/female symbols.|One nonbinary person's ideal public toilet situation; symbols representing facilities rather than permitted genders.]]'''Public toilets''' are a serious challenge for [[ | [[File:Piptoilets.jpg|thumb|alt=A comic of one nonbinary person's ideal public toilet situation; toilet doors with signs of toilets and urinals, rather than the usual male/female symbols.|One nonbinary person's ideal public toilet situation; symbols representing facilities rather than permitted genders.]]'''Public toilets''' are a serious challenge for [[nonbinary]], [[intersex]], or [[gender nonconforming]] people. Places that only offer men's or women's restrooms create an unsafe situation where gender nonconforming people have to choose between potentially getting harassed or assaulted, or having to wait so long that they get health problems. A single-occupancy, gender-neutral restroom is safest, so it is important for everyone's rights to be able to find these spaces, and to ask for them to be created in public places that need to have them. | ||
==Problems== | ==Problems== | ||
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These are some resources for people who want there to be gender-neutral restrooms in public places. | These are some resources for people who want there to be gender-neutral restrooms in public places. | ||
* Transgender Law Center. (2005). ''Peeing in peace: A resource guide for transgender activists and allies.'' http://transgenderlawcenter.org/issues/public-accomodations/peeing-in-peace | * Transgender Law Center. (2005). ''Peeing in peace: A resource guide for transgender activists and allies.'' https://web.archive.org/web/20160505212347/http://transgenderlawcenter.org/issues/public-accomodations/peeing-in-peace | ||
* Sylvia Rivera Law Project (Producer) & Mateik, T. (Director). (2003). ''Toilet training: Law and order in the bathroom'' (DVD). United States: Silvia Rivera Law Project. | * Sylvia Rivera Law Project (Producer) & Mateik, T. (Director). (2003). ''Toilet training: Law and order in the bathroom'' (DVD). United States: Silvia Rivera Law Project. | ||
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How to find gender-neutral public toilets anywhere, and how to handle situations where these aren't available. | How to find gender-neutral public toilets anywhere, and how to handle situations where these aren't available. | ||
* [http://www.refugerestrooms.org/ Refuge Restrooms] is a replacement for Safe2pee. It also has an iOS app available. | * [http://www.refugerestrooms.org/ Refuge Restrooms] is a replacement for Safe2pee. It also has an iOS app available. | ||
*[http://safe2pee.org/ Safe2pee] is a crowdsourced world map of public toilets that are | *[https://web.archive.org/web/20170515190319/http://safe2pee.org/ Safe2pee] is a crowdsourced world map of public toilets that are gender-neutral and/or accessible. There is an iPhone app that uses the information so that you can find places when you're out and about, called [http://transquat.tumblr.com/ Transquat.]{{dead link}} | ||
==Restroom signs== | ==Restroom signs== | ||
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These kinds of signs have disadvantages: | These kinds of signs have disadvantages: | ||
* '''"Family restroom" signs''' can be seen as excluding people who are not being a caretaker of babies, children, or other dependents at that moment. Sometimes people who are by themselves get told they are not allowed to use them. | * '''"Family restroom" signs''' can be seen as excluding people who are not being a caretaker of babies, children, or other dependents at that moment. Sometimes people who are by themselves get told they are not allowed to use them. | ||
* '''Urinal signs''' that are only on restroom doors that have urinals can seem like a solution for making restrooms gender-neutral without changing the facilities in them. However, they can still be used to single out people who are expected to be able to pee standing up. People end up treating them as if they were still labeled as a men's room. As one trans woman, eva embers, said that a urinal sign "becomes an opportunity to out me, make assumptions about my genitals, essentialize my gender according to my birth sex, and push me into the men’s room."<ref>eva embers | * '''Urinal signs''' that are only on restroom doors that have urinals can seem like a solution for making restrooms gender-neutral without changing the facilities in them. However, they can still be used to single out people who are expected to be able to pee standing up. People end up treating them as if they were still labeled as a men's room. As one trans woman, eva embers, said that a urinal sign "becomes an opportunity to out me, make assumptions about my genitals, essentialize my gender according to my birth sex, and push me into the men’s room."<ref>{{cite web|author=eva embers|title=Here is what happens|website=Skysquids (blog)|date=May 1, 2014| url= https://skysquids.tumblr.com/post/49345228676/so-here-is-what-happens-to-me-when-we-do-the |archive-date=August 23, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140823034105/https://skysquids.tumblr.com/post/49345228676/so-here-is-what-happens-to-me-when-we-do-the}}</ref> In her experience, urinal signs did not reduce sex discrimination against her. | ||
* '''A transgender symbol''' is not a familiar symbol to everyone, and is not an international pictogram for a restroom. Restrooms need to be marked with an international pictogram, so that people who do not read the local language can recognize them without having to ask for help. | * '''A transgender symbol''' is not a familiar symbol to everyone, and is not an international pictogram for a restroom. Restrooms need to be marked with an international pictogram, so that people who do not read the local language can recognize them without having to ask for help. | ||
* '''Heart or moon symbols''' are traditional for outhouse doors in the Western world, but they are not common on public restroom signs. Maybe they should be, but at this point, they would be less recognizable as a restroom sign than human figure pictograms. | * '''Heart or moon symbols''' are traditional for outhouse doors in the Western world, but they are not common on public restroom signs. Maybe they should be, but at this point, they would be less recognizable as a restroom sign than human figure pictograms. | ||
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==Further reading== | ==Further reading== | ||
*{{cite journal|first=Heath|last=Fogg Davis|year=2017|title=Why the "transgender" bathroom controversy should make us rethink sex-segregated public bathrooms|journal=Politics, Groups, and Identities|doi=10.1080/21565503.2017.1338971|url=https://heathfoggdavis.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/politics-groups-and-identities-article.pdf}} | *{{cite journal|first=Heath|last=Fogg Davis|year=2017|title=Why the "transgender" bathroom controversy should make us rethink sex-segregated public bathrooms|journal=Politics, Groups, and Identities|doi=10.1080/21565503.2017.1338971|url=https://heathfoggdavis.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/politics-groups-and-identities-article.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621005230/https://heathfoggdavis.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/politics-groups-and-identities-article.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2023}} | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||