New Campus Y signs should spread across campus

During winter break, the Campus Y designated its bathrooms as gender-neutral.

This step toward converting bathrooms to being gender-neutral was as simple as changing the sign on the door. Similar single-use bathrooms around campus should adopt these signs in order to promote acceptance throughout UNC.

For Tar Heels identifying as transgender, such a sign not only denotes their inclusion, but symbolizes social progress.

The Campus Y began its gender-neutral bathroom policy in earnest last year with mere sheets of paper as signage.

Little backlash was received initially, and after official signs were implemented this year, student Y-members have reported only positive feedback.

Just like that, by simply making a single-use bathroom sign official and gender-non-specific, the Y set precedent for acceptance — if only for the Y. But more can be done.

It was a great first step, but a small one. There are currently 56 single-use bathrooms identified as gender-neutral on campus.

But there remain more that could easily be converted to gender-nuetral, just as those at the Campus Y have been.

Though the affected population may be small, the ease of this transition makes it clearly worthwhile.

If a student can’t easily choose where to use the bathroom, Campus Y leaders say words like “isolation” or “discrimination” could describe their experiences on campus.

These decisions might seem small, but they do add a certain amount of stress that can pile up.
Campus Y leaders say this accumulation could manifest itself in many ways, including a strain on the student’s academics.

In the wake of the Board of Governors’ decision to not allow gender neutral housing, the University must welcome and encourage small changes, such as new bathroom signs, that make life easier for these individuals in any way possible.

The Board of Governors will hopefully revisit their decision on gender neutral housing in the future. In the meantime, these small changes could help send a message of acceptance from the University.