“I shouldn’t be afraid to go to the toilet on my own university campus.” – Travis Alabanza. Theology, Second Year King’s Student.

Trans and non-binary students should have the right to feel safe on campus. King’s College London and KCLSU have both made public commitments to be inclusive and provide students with safe spaces to be themselves at university. For trans and nonbinary students at King’s, this is not the case. To meet their own commitments, King’s and KCLSU must provide more dedicated gender neutral toilets for their students.

LGBT groups at KCL have been in communication with King’s about this issue for several years. LGBT groups have requested and asked for maps of gender neutral toilets (GNTs) on campus yet have received no information. LGBT groups are told that there are disabled toilets to use, as well as one or two non-labelled toilets around. This is not acceptable. A disabled toilet is a dedicated space that should be for disabled people only to ensure they have access to the correct facilities they need at all times. It is not a gender neutral toilet. Searching for Gender Neutral toilets should not be a strenuous task for students on campus. There should be enough non-gendered toilets, clearly located, for all students to use.

 

We are calling for: 

1)  KCL and KCLSU to acknowledge that the current lack of gender neutral toilets is a failure to their student community & that it is putting students at risk.

2) Improve signposting of existing gender neutral toilets on campus and provide maps that clearly show their locations.

3) KCL and KCLSU to listen and respond to students appropriately, creating more gender neutral toilets on all campuses in order to rectify the current situation.

4) KCL, KCLSU and the developers of the new Aldwych Quarter to promise to include trans and nonbinary students in conversations around building plans, to ensure the new building is safe for trans and nonbinary students. This is to include the commitment to provide enough gender neutral toilets.

 

This is not a matter of option, this is a pressing matter of mental and physical wellbeing. It is time King’s and KCLSU lived up to their public commitment to say that they care for all of their students.

Please sign and share the petition to help make a change today.

 

Gender-Neutral Toilets Q&A

 

What are gender-neutral toilets?

Gender-neutral toilets (GNTs) are toilets and/or bathroom facilities which do not have gendered signage and which do not require the person using them to define into a gender. Rather than being unisex (both male and female), gender-neutral toilets assign no gender whatsoever to people using them.

Who uses gender-neutral toilets?

The simple answer is anyone! That is the whole point of ‘neutralising’ the gendered signage on the doors of the toilets. They can be used by anyone, regardless of gender, without fear of incident, discrimination or harassment. Often, a gender-neutral toilet is a positive choice for those who do not fit within binary gender presentation or those who do not identify as male or female.

People with a more ambiguous gender presentation can be subject to discrimination whichever gendered toilet they use, and therefore a gender-neutral toilet can provide a safer alternative to traditional male and female toilets. These people may or may not identify as trans, or as LGBT. Some trans people identify outside of the gender binary, and choose not to define their gender as either a man or woman. Having gender-neutral toilets ensures that these people will not be forced to choose the ‘best option’ toilet instead of one they actually feel comfortable with. GN toilets also provides a safe space for trans students who when going into gendered bathrooms, receive abuse or questioning from other people.

 

Why are gender-neutral toilets important?

The simple act of going to the bathroom puts trans and nonbinary students at a significant and unacceptable level of risk. Trans and nonbinary students face being misgendered, often exposing them to common and frequent harassment once in male or female toilets. This affects their studies, their wellbeing and their experience of university.

A number of students have spoken to the LGBT+ Society and Association about their experiences of going to the bathroom at King’s. These are just some of their comments;

"Most people take the ability to use the correct bathroom for granted, but it is very different as a non-binary person. As a fresher, moving away from home and starting something new has been daunting enough without the extra uncertainty of whether there will be a safe place to use the toilet facilities. My first few weeks of university should not have been spent trying to locate, and realising the lack of, gender neutral toilets and correcting people on my gender when they assume wrongly, having seen me exit a gendered toilet.

KCL want to look after their student's wellbeing, yet the lack of gender neutral toilets forces non binary people, or those who do not fit traditional binary gender roles, into potentially unsafe scenarios and causes extreme discomfort. Something needs to be done about it."

 – Ed Donald. Biochemistry, First year.

" It’s gotten to a point where if it’s not a unisex bathroom or a gender neutral bathroom, I don’t actually bother to go. Just hold it in until I’m home, just for the sake of not being misgendered."

-Nkem Ede. History and German. First year.

“In a world there the norm to pass as a defined binary gender still operates, the effects picking the “wrong” bathroom by that standard can result in trans people being in unsafe, if not violent, circumstances. That is why gender neautral bathrooms are such a necessary facility for trans people to access when on campus”

Jae Hetterley, 3rd year. Philosophy.

Forcing a student to use a toilet that is not dedicated to their gender identity can trigger dysphoria, depression, bullying, panic attacks, self-harm and thoughts of suicide.

The lack of gender neutral toilets cannot be reconciled with King’s pledge to tackle mental health problems, signed in 2015, or with their commitment to provide positive spaces free from harassment or bullying.[1] To meet their own commitments, King’s and KCLSU must provide dedicated gender neutral toilets for their students.

 

King’s College London, ‘Guidance on Bullying and Harassment for Students’, King’s College London http://www.kcl.ac.uk/college/policyzone/assets/files/students/Bullying_and_Harassment_Guidance_for_Students_July_2015.pdf

 

LGBT, NUS, ‘Gender Neutral Toilets Briefing’, NUS LGBT  http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/nusdigital/document/documents/17329/0ceab1f1afdd722dfc0a16047f4a9c30/2009_LGBT_gender%20neutral%20toilets%20briefing.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJKEA56ZWKFU6MHNQ&Expires=1444141146&Signature=71it4DT%2FykZZo77wT9LLP8scPmI%3D

 

Time to Change, ‘King’s College London University and Students' Union’, Time to Change Pledge, 2014 http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/node/97742