‘All gender’ toilets have been installed in the Robbo

Toilets for people of ‘all genders’ have been installed in the Robinson library.

The decision follows a campaign called ‘Beyond the Binary’, as well as work undertaken by the NUSU’s Marginalised Genders Officer, Saffron Kershaw-Mee.

People who identify as non-binary believe in the freedom to choose your own pronoun to suit you, rather than using ‘he’ or ‘she’.

Saffron told the Tab: ‘Having gender neutral or ‘all gender’ toilets in university buildings may seem like an unimportant and pointless move in the eyes of some, but for those who identity as a gender outside of the binary of male and female, it could potentially help them feel validated and included on campus’.

In the 2011 UK census, 225,000 people said they did not identify within the two traditional genders.

Saffron Kershaw-Mee, who identifies as ‘non-binary’, has campaigned for the changes

Responding to people who might argue that gender neutral toilets are unnecessary, Saffron said: “Some people who identify outside of the gender binary may feel uncomfortable going into gendered toilets – I have personally been forcefully asked to leave public female toilets due to not looking female enough.

“Those who may be transitioning away from their assigned gender may also feel more comfortable and relaxed using a toilet that doesn’t specify a gender”.

Internet comments on the news about the new toilets include some people claiming to identify as objects, as a sarcastic criticism of those who identify as non-binary. In response, Saffron said:

“Comments like that show how unwilling some people are to accept something they don’t understand – I totally get that to some, it’s a brand new concept that they don’t ‘get’ but historically non-binary, third genders, and the rejection of ‘male’ and ‘female’ isn’t new at all.

“People should just allow and accept that we do exist, gender identities aren’t merely to accommodate an aesthetic or trend – comments like this invalidate and invisibilise us. If you don’t want to utilise a label such as ‘nonbinary’, ‘agender’, ‘genderqueer’ then don’t feel you have to. This movement of questioning the gender binary should be about freedom of being who you are, and people should accept that, even if they don’t fully understand”.