NMH JOURNAL
WHO•WHAT •W H Y
Beyond Unisex A new kind of bathroom makes a subtle debut on campus. by MEGAN TADY
The signs don’t say “male.” Or “female.” Or simply “restroom.” Twenty-nine bathrooms in 19 buildings on campus now have new signs on the doors that say “All Gender Restroom.” It’s a subtle change with a significant impact. It means that gender-nonconforming people at NMH — those who don’t identify as either male or female — now have bathroom options that reflect their identities. The change, says Dean of Students Nicole Hager, is “a powerful manifestation of NMH’s mission to act with humanity and purpose.” The school added gender identity to its nondiscrimination policy in 2012, and the new bathroom signs allow administrators “to send a message that we recognize there’s more than just a male gender and a female gender,” Hager says. Khalil Power ’14 helped spark the change. Female at birth, Power came out as transgender last year, but had neither the need nor desire to live as a male. Power identifies as “genderqueer” — a third gender — and uses the neutral pronoun “they” instead of “he” or “she.” “I started thinking about how people like myself, who aren’t on the gender binary, could feel more accepted on campus,” Power says. Adding all-gender bathrooms seemed like a good step. “I decided
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“ W e wanted something more than just a sign that said, ‘restroom.’ We wanted a statement that said, ‘You’re welcome here.’”
to focus on bathrooms because it’s such a biological necessity,” Power says. “Gender-inclusive bathrooms have a sense of privacy that is really great. It’s easy to slip in and not have people notice.” Power wrote to Hager and other school administrators outlining the proposal. Hager says she saw the bathrooms as an opportunity to better support the school’s LGBTQ community. Together, Power and Hager toured the campus and inventoried
bathrooms on campus to determine which ones could be designated as allgender — single stalls with a lock. Gretchen Licata, NMH’s general service manager, took the next step of acquiring the new signs. She says the wording — “All Gender Restroom” — was deliberate. “We wanted something more than just a sign that said ‘restroom,’” Licata says. “We wanted a statement that said, ‘You’re welcome here.’” Hager agrees. “It’s important to convey to a traditionally marginalized group of people that they’re in a safe space.” The bathroom signs follow other steps NMH has taken to make the school more inclusive to the broader LGBTQ community. Twelve years ago, NMH hired Hager, who is openly gay. The school recognizes annual events such as National Coming Out Day and the anti-bullying Day of Silence; there’s also a strong Gay Straight Alliance on campus. Now a student at Clark University, Power is both grateful that current students can benefit from the new bathroom signs, and hopeful that NMH will continue to make the campus friendly to all students. “Learning how to accept a variety of people is difficult because there are so many different needs,” Power says. “I urge NMH to continue to push its mindset on inclusivity.”