Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

Effort to raise awareness and accomadte transgender students

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Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#1  Postby Thomas Eshuis » Nov 11, 2014 12:43 pm

Sorry, can't find an English article yet.
Here's a Dutch one:

http://www.metronieuws.nl/nieuws/unisex-wc-s-op-scholen/SrZnkj!lVn8dOyZBx3bA/

Unisex-wc's op scholen
Honderd middelbare scholen in Nederland krijgen woensdag unisex-wc's. Met deze actie vragen het Gay-Straight Alliance Netwerk (GSA) en Transgender Netwerk Nederland (TNN) aandacht voor de problemen die transgenders tegenkomen. „Als transgenders moet je op school elke dag kiezen of je naar het jongens- of het meisjestoilet gaat”, zegt transgender Laurens (18). „Veel transgenders zijn daar zo bang voor, dat ze het de hele dag ophouden en pas thuis naar het toilet durven te gaan. Het zou veel fijner zijn als toiletten er voor iedereen zijn.”

Leerlingen voorzien de schoolwc’s woensdag van speciale stickers die aangeven dat de toiletten er voor iedereen zijn: voor jongens, meisjes én voor iedereen die daar (nog) niet zeker over is. De stickers tonen afhankelijk van de invalshoek een jongetje, een meisje of allebei.

Het doel van de actie is niet dat álle schooltoiletten er voor iedereen zijn. COC’s GSA Netwerk en TNN stellen voor dat er in ieder geval meer dan één toilet voor iedereen is. „Anders heb je een speciale transgendertoilet, en dat is nóg ongemakkelijker voor transgenderjongeren”, zegt het COC. „De ideale verdeling is één derde jongenstoiletten, één derde meisjestoilettenen één derde toiletten voor iedereen.”


Translation:
Unisex-bathrooms in highschools

Hundreds of highschools in the Netherlands will be equipped iwth unixsex bathrooms this coming wednesday. With this action, the Dutch Gay-Straight Alliance Netwwork (GSA) and Transgender Network of the Netherlands will try to raise awareness for the problems transgender teens face.
"Being transgender means choosing, each day, whether to use the boys- or the girlsbathroom" says trangender Laurens (18). " Many transgenders experience such fear, that they will hold of and only releive themselves when they get home." It would be preferable if there were toilets for everyone."

Students will post special stickers on schoolbathrooms, this wednesday, to elaborate which toilets will be availble for who; for boys, girls and for anyone who isn't sure (yet). The stickers will show different persons, depending on the target group: a boy, a girl or both.

The goal of this action is not to force everyone to use unisex/the same bathroom. COC's GSA Network and TNN propose that at the very least there's more than one singular bathroom for eveyone. "Otherwise you'd have a special bathroom for transgenders and that's even more troublesome for transgender teens." says the COC.
"The ideal balance would be 1/3 boys bathrooms, 1/3 girls and 1/3 for eveyone."
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#2  Postby DarthHelmet86 » Nov 11, 2014 12:49 pm

I wouldn't mind using a unisex bathroom, it isn't like the sound of me doing my business is any different if men or women or whoever are hearing it. This is a good idea, might help break people of the culture of fear some people have about who might be hearing them or seeing them in the toilet.
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#3  Postby Fallible » Nov 11, 2014 12:52 pm

They're all an equally distasteful prospect to me no matter what the gender is of the people who walk in. However for people not as grossed out by using public conveniences I am, I don't see many reasons for keeping the two main genders segregated.
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#4  Postby I'm With Stupid » Nov 11, 2014 1:47 pm

I find it really annoying when you go somewhere and they have a toilet for each gender, and when you look inside, it's a private room with a single toilet in it anyway. What does it matter who uses it in that case?
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#5  Postby monkeyboy » Nov 11, 2014 9:25 pm

I'm With Stupid wrote:I find it really annoying when you go somewhere and they have a toilet for each gender, and when you look inside, it's a private room with a single toilet in it anyway. What does it matter who uses it in that case?

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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#6  Postby Onyx8 » Nov 11, 2014 11:31 pm

One word: Boy cooties.
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#7  Postby NuclMan » Nov 12, 2014 1:29 am

Good stuff. Where I work the female washrooms are locked with key panels. :nono:
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#8  Postby The_Metatron » Nov 12, 2014 3:00 am

What so special goes on in there?
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#9  Postby Rachel Bronwyn » Nov 12, 2014 3:53 am

Absolutely nothing.

I don't want to use the bathroom with anyone. Don't care who else uses the washroom I use but, for god's sake, may I please go alone? Please. Segregation is utterly unnecessary but what about privacy?
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#10  Postby The_Piper » Nov 12, 2014 4:06 am

I've seen some unisex public bathrooms in Maine with stalls. All of the single room ones I recall seeing are unisex, but most with multiple stalls are still divided between gender. It hasn't come up yet, but I can't think unisex would help my public restroom psychoses at all either. :lol:
I wouldn't let those stand in the way of progress though!
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#11  Postby wtargentina » Nov 12, 2014 8:48 am

Got these in the new school near here in Kinross, Scotland.
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#12  Postby Cthulhu's Trilby » Nov 12, 2014 10:00 am

Out of curiousity, how prevalent is trans-gender? And are we talking people who feel like the opposite gender trapped in the wrong body? Post or pre-op transexuals? Natural hermaphrodites? Just how many are there?
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#13  Postby Scot Dutchy » Nov 12, 2014 10:13 am

Cthulhu's Trilby wrote:Out of curiousity, how prevalent is trans-gender? And are we talking people who feel like the opposite gender trapped in the wrong body? Post or pre-op transexuals? Natural hermaphrodites? Just how many are there?


Here is a Gender Identity Research and Education Society report:
http://www.gires.org.uk/assets/Medpro-Assets/GenderVarianceUK-report.pdf
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#14  Postby NuclMan » Nov 12, 2014 1:46 pm

The_Metatron wrote:What so special goes on in there?

Nothing special. It keeps us potential rapists out, I guess :crazy:
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#15  Postby Ironclad » Nov 12, 2014 2:26 pm

A British university did this ages ago. I don't know if it's a good idea or a bad idea, the toilet seat will always be down and the place will likely whiff of lavender or kittens.
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#16  Postby The_Piper » Nov 12, 2014 2:34 pm

Ironclad wrote:A British university did this ages ago. I don't know if it's a good idea or a bad idea, the toilet seat will always be down and the place will likely whiff of lavender or kittens.

I don't know man, once as drunk teenagers my friends shone flashlights down the campground outhouses and the women's trench was more frightening than the men's. :dopey:

It's good the students have a choice to use a specific bathroom, because while I know The Netherlands are socially advanced, I'm sure kids still tease each other there.
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#17  Postby Scot Dutchy » Nov 12, 2014 4:08 pm

Well I often heard from people running cleaning companies that women's toilets were always the worse to clean.
You would be surprised what happens to tampons apparently.
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#18  Postby Boyle » Nov 12, 2014 4:40 pm

Ironclad wrote:A British university did this ages ago. I don't know if it's a good idea or a bad idea, the toilet seat will always be down and the place will likely whiff of lavender or kittens.

And there'll be more used tampons in the toilet! Yay! I totally didn't get to see enough of that growin' up with a sister.
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#19  Postby Strontium Dog » Nov 12, 2014 5:47 pm

Meh, South Park already did it.
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Re: Unisex bathrooms in Dutch Highschools

#20  Postby don't get me started » Nov 12, 2014 11:47 pm

On the subject of toilets and what happens there. Many restaurants and bars here are very very small and consequently only have one toilet. Male and female alike (and any other categories) have to use the same facility. Doesn't seem to bother most people.

What does bother a lot of Japanese is the minimal partitioning in American public toilets. The gap between the bottom of the partition and the floor is often quite large, about 40-50 cm I'd guess, making the presence of a neighbour very noticeable.

Mind you, friends who have visited China have related stories of public toilets of the 'squatter' type with no partition at all. One just drops one's trousers and squats next to one's fellow defecator. One friend referred to them as the 'ni hao' tolet, as that was the greeting he would get from the squatting neighbour when he had to use them.

What funny creatures we humans are, to particularize something as universal as going for a shit. (Or 'taking a shit' as my American friends say. Where they are taking it to, I have never felt the need to inquire.)
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