During the first week of school, students at California State University, Stanislaus (Stan State) are always bombarded with emails that serve as a reminder that school is back in session. However, this time one of those emails sent to students was regarding the addition of 15 new gender neutral bathrooms, and within the email the locations of these bathrooms were shared along with a lactation room.
This news in a way came after the state of California passed Assembly Bill 173 on May 9^th according to Jeremy White from the Sacramento Bee.
The bill states that any single-stall bathroom, whether it be at a government agency, a business, or a public place must be gender neutral, allowing the usage of the restroom to anyone in a nondiscriminatory setting.
In Fall 2013, The Signal had covered a story of the first gender neutral bathroom that was being added to the campus. And as we know now, there has been drastic changes since then, not only on campus, but in the whole country: gay marriage is now legal, and gender neutral bathrooms have sparked up some controversy.
Jaccina (senior, Health Sciences), who wishes not to state her last name, was shocked when she first heard about the addition of the gender neutral bathrooms on campus.
“But really thinking about it, it’s been an occurrence that’s been happening slowly throughout the country, so I was sure it would happen at our school,” said Jaccina.
When it was mentioned that there was already gender neutral bathrooms on campus, she said that she “simply wasn’t aware of the bathroom’s presence.”
Dr. Vickie Harvey, from the Communications Studies Department, who is also involved with the LGBTQ+ club on campus shared her opinion in regards of the addition of the campus’ gender neutral bathrooms.
“It is important that our campus have gender neutral restrooms for the comfort, access and safety of non-gender conforming students as well as for everyone…the closer they are to the buildings where students attend classes the more convenient it is for students,” stressed Dr. Harvey. “In the past, their distance from the classroom building made it unrealistic to use them and get to classes on time.”
For Stan State, this is just one of the first steps towards equality and acceptance for those in the LGBTQ+ community. The fact that this is happening on our campus, regardless of it being surrounded by such a conservative area, proves that our campus is ready for change and is welcoming it with open arms.