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"I had to think long and hard about writing this post because it opens me up to
criticism on a topic that I might not be ready to handle. But I have already
been trolled this week so I feel like I have nothing to lose. Truth be told,
it's one of those subjects that is so inflammatory to a lot of people that I
feel like it will always be a touchy subject. However, I do think there has to
be an open discussion on this and I'm willing to start it – I won't be replying
to comments though. If you feel strongly, please write your own post.
To be clear from the start, I want all-gender toilets to exist for a number of
reasons but I didn't always feel this way.
Back in 2009, on a Saturday afternoon, I left the hair salon after a colouring
appointment and went to a gender neutral toilet in my local branch of Marks &
Spencer. It's in a side room away from the part where people shop and there are
five doors. None of them are for any particular gender. People just go in there
and choose a toilet. The doors have no gaps and they are intended to be as safe
as possible. There are even CCTV cameras facing the outside of the doors to
catch anyone getting up to mischief and ensure safety.
The problem is, this is the real world we live in and there is always the
potential for mischief. While I was in one of the toilets, a teenage boy tried
to unlock the toilet from the outside. The design of the lock was such that if
someone had a coin or a screwdriver they could unlock the door from the outside
easily — for safety reasons apparently. Of course, I kicked the side of the
stall, screamed bloody murder and he cleared off. No harm was done physically
but I was left traumatised by the fear of what might have happened and still am
to this day. Despite being caught on CCTV, and a complaint being made to the
store and the police immediately, he was never caught and there were no
consequences for him.
That teenage boy was years later found guilty of a sex offence and sentenced.
It was not an isolated incident for him.
So, you might think I would be 100% against all-gender toilets, given my own
experience. That's not the case. I still think that these gender-neutral spaces
absolutely must exist because of my experiences in the months and years that
followed."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
