Inclusivity more important than comfortability

STAR // Rosalee Padilla

Prior to the re-opening of Stevenson Hall, the Sonoma State campus had a total of 19 gender-neutral restroom stalls, which left nine out of 16 commonly used buildings on campus without gender-inclusive restrooms. 

Unlike other buildings, which simply had the signs on their original disabled and family restrooms changed or edited, the plan for the new Stevenson Hall design always included the installment of gender-neutral restrooms in its blueprints. In fact, The HUB Cultural Center on campus has been advertising the 34 genderless bathroom stalls since September of 2022, even though Stevenson was set to open in December of that year. 

When it was announced that Stevenson Hall would dominantly feature gender-neutral restrooms for use, students immediately had opinions. Similar to public concerns about restrooms, students found themselves considering their safety and comfort when it came to the way the restrooms would function. 

It is noticeable upon entry into Stevenson that safety, privacy and comfort were all taken into account when designing the restroom. The stalls feature floor-to-ceiling stall walls, and stall doors with roughly an inch gap at the top and bottom. These privacy features are without a doubt more considerate of privacy compared to the 13-inch gaps you can find on all three walls in any other restroom stall on campus. 

Since the opening of the new and improved Stevenson Hall, students have interacted with the new restrooms in different ways. Some students walk in and out of the double-doored multi-stall restroom with ease, while others have been seen avoiding the multi-stall gender-neutral bathrooms and instead are seen waiting in line outside the single-stall gender-neutral bathrooms. 

When seawolf Clarissa Tolsen was asked about which restroom she uses, she explained that she uses the multi-stall restroom because they’re more user-friendly than the single-stall restrooms which have automatic doors. Tolsen made a comment that the double doors were confusing initially because she didn’t know where they would lead, especially with the intention of them being gender-inclusive. She recalls her first time using the multi-stall restrooms and stated, “I went in and there was a guy there, I was like ‘oh hi’ and then I used it and it was fine” 

Tolsen goes on to explain how it’s not the first public gender-neutral restroom she’s seen. In fact, many people take this into consideration when discussing the relevance of gender-inclusive restrooms. Nonetheless, while people continue the argument of whether or not such restrooms are necessary, they often forget that the toilet in their home is also gender-neutral.

However, among the opinions of cisgender students, it’s also important to consider the opinions of those who have been waiting for more gender-inclusive bathrooms. In fact, student Chance Lujan-Garber expressed how he feels singled out when he goes to use the gender-neutral restrooms specifically in the Student Center. Lujan-Garber expressed, “Something about having to walk the complete opposite direction of the other restrooms feels weird. Like it points out that I feel I don’t belong there.” The multi-stall gender-inclusive bathroom now allows students with similar feelings to feel less like a sore thumb when it comes to using a restroom that is comfortable for them. 

While Sonoma State continues to listen to student voices and update its campus, it is important to consider the population of SSU and how the campus should accommodate it. While students may remain to have mixed feelings about the gender-inclusive bathrooms featured in Stevenson Hall, this feature is intended to make the student population feel welcomed and acknowledged.