Some students at the University of Victoria are giving their heads a scratch before sitting down as two co-ed washrooms open up on campus.
The University of Victoria Students' Society hopes the new, multi-stall facilities will foster an environment of equality and safety for people of all genders.
Transgender student Dylyn Wilkinson likes the gender-inclusive options because he’ll be able to avoid harassment he’s had to deal with before.
“We always think that sort of thing just doesn't happen here, but unfortunately it still does,” he said.
Wilkinson explains he’s been forced to justify his gender identity.
“‘You know this is the men's room right?’” he said, recalling the encounter.
“And I'm like, ‘yes, I know. I'm a guy.’”
Similar to the unisex facilities on the hit show Ally McBeal, the university’s new washrooms have stirred both confusion and some resistance.
“You spend your entire life being segregated from each other, so it’s just really weird,” a female student said.
“I don't think I'd want to go to the bathroom with my (male) friend.”
Others have waltzed into the washrooms ignorant to the change, only to be perplexed to see the opposite sex inside after nature calls. As a CTV camera caught two young women walking inside one, a stunned fellow who enters after them soon switches direction after spotting the ladies.
But Emily Rogers of the University of Victoria Students' Society thinks the co-ed washrooms are necessary.
“We believe that it's important that people can access public spaces without fear of harassment or discrimination, and that's something we've seen happen in our building,” she said.
The society has received three emails complaining about the new facilities, two from women and one from a man. All of them said they didn’t feel comfortable doing their business next to the opposite sex.
For them, Rogers suggests using other washrooms.
“If folks don't feel comfortable using these spaces, they have other choices,” she said.
“The fact is that if folks don’t feel comfortable using gendered spaces, previously they didn’t have a choice,”
Most students are supportive once they figure out the washrooms are for everyone, Rogers added.
With a report from CTV Vancouver Island's Andrew Johnson
