By Meredith Camel
UM News

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CORAL GABLES, Fla. (December 15, 2015)—The restroom is one place most people expect to feel safe. Yet all across the nation, transgender people—whose biological sex does not match their gender identity—report being harassed in public facilities because they are perceived as being in the “wrong” restroom. The University of Miami has taken a very key step toward ensuring that people of all gender identities and expressions have access to a safe, comfortable environment when nature calls.

This summer, the University’s LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning) task force surveyed more than 100 single-stall restrooms on the Coral Gables and Rosenstiel School campuses. Signs are now posted on 12 bathrooms on the Coral Gables campus to identify them as either “gender-neutral” or “inclusive,” with signs forthcoming at the Rosenstiel School. Both signs identify single-stall restrooms, but the “inclusive” sign means the restroom is also ADA compliant and suitable for families.

“It’s important that we give everyone, no matter their gender, the opportunity to be their authentic selves while using the restroom,” said Andrew Wiemer, director of the Butler Center for Volunteer Service and Leadership Development, who spearheads the LGBTQ task force along with Gail Cole-Avent, executive director for student life and assessment initiatives. “We made sure the gender neutral and inclusive bathrooms are spread out, so no matter where you are on campus, you have a restroom that you feel comfortable using.”

“This is about safety,” said junior Jeremy Penn, the president of the LGBTQ student group SpectrUM who is majoring in ecosystem science and policy, applied physics, and geography. “And safety is subjective. For some people, glares and stares are no big deal because they’re used to it. For others it can be incredibly overwhelming.”

Penn was among the more than 60 UM community members who signed a petition in April to oppose Florida House Bill 583, which would have made it illegal to use a bathroom that does not match your legal gender. The bill didn’t pass, but others like it are popping up in states across the country. As UM’s petition stated, HB 583 would have taught people “to fear and monitor gender nonconforming and transgender people even more than they already do…We, a group of concerned faculty, staff, and students, believes that this bill stands in direct opposition to many of the University of Miami’s core values, including diversity, integrity, compassion, and responsibility.”

These are the same values driving the University’s ongoing efforts to build resources for LGBTQ students, alumni, faculty, and staff. The miami.edu/lgbtq website, launched earlier this year, provides details about LGBTQ-related programs and initiatives available to the UM community, including a map of all gender-neutral and inclusive restrooms on the Coral Gables campus. The website is updated as new resources are introduced.

Penn said the gender-neutral bathroom signage “shows the University is being proactive in protecting its transgender and gender-nonconforming students.” But he also stressed the importance of continuing the progress.

“It’s important that we finish the current task force initiatives one by one to form a ceiling, but that ceiling must become the floor to the next level.”