U of Denver Experiments with Gender Neutral Bathrooms

As part of a transgender awareness program at the University of Denver, a group of residential advisors (RAs) temporarily transformed a lobby bathroom in a student residence hall into a "gender neutral" facility.

"Everyone has a different identity, and it's not just racial," Lauren Johnson, one of the RAs behind the program, told the campus newspaper, The Clarion. "It's age, gender, social economic class, it's everything. We want to build a community that says, 'Hey, it's okay.'"

The temporary experiment -- which was advertised via signs throughout the building -- received support from students, faculty, and a number of campus organization, including the Queer-Straight Alliance.

Johnson was happy with the results. "It did so much more to raise awareness than just putting up signs," she said. "And it's especially important in a first year building to open those horizons."

In other college news, a proposal that would have established an option for gender neutral housing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was rejected by the school's chancellor.

Holden Thorp wrote a memo to vice chancellor Winston Crisp citing concerns from campus outsiders.

"While there has been a great deal of discussion about the proposal on campus, my concern is that we haven't adequately explained it to our many stakeholders off campus," he wrote.

The Daily Tar Heelreports that rather than closing the door, Thorp suggested that more explanation and "a broader conversation" was needed in order for the proposal to be accepted.