I think it is time to admit that I don’t know as much as I should about gender identity. According to gender taxonomy and from what I have learned about gender identity, I am a cisgender, heterosexual female whose preferred gender pronouns are she and her.

However, just because I am a practicing Muslim woman who wears a hijab, does not mean that I align myself with heteronormative ideals and beliefs. I believe in being able to practice and define personal identity on an individualistic level manner as a human right and an obligement to personal freedom.

But with that being said, I should disclose that, before attending McMaster, I was unconsciously ignorant to gay pride and gender identity. The sexual taxonomy I knew was what I learned in my Grade 11 biology class, and it wasn’t until my second year at McMaster, when I entered an office of open-minded and gender-conscious individuals that I began to do my research.

After walking into the middle of a discussion on Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble and having no idea what anyone was talking about and feeling like I was a tourist in a foreign country, I felt the need to educate myself. I googled, I read, and I studied. But even then, as someone who came from a pretty binary-minded small town, I was still lost. I am now realizing that I can’t be the only one that is nervous about being in the midst of a discussion on gender identity.

Coming from an educational background that did not speak about topics of gender identity and sexuality, university was a whole new ground for me. People seemed far more educated on these topics than I am and amongst this huge congregation of identities, I found myself feeling like I was significantly less informed than those around me.

All it took for me was to put my fear aside, and, when appropriate, modestly ask those around me to help me learn how to define their identities and tell me how I can respect their gender identity. 

I was lucky to be placed in the middle of a discussion about gender expression and surrounded by people who are from the LGBTQ community. If I hadn’t been, I may not have taken the initiative to do my research and inform myself on a topic I have never looked into about before.

Gender identity is one’s personal choice and experience of one’s own gender, and from what I have learned, it does not have to be binary. Yes, gender identity can correlate with an individual’s assigned sex at birth, but it can also differ completely from that based on one’s persona choice and experience. This is something I now understand, but admittedly, never did before.

Today, different societies have a different set of categories to define gender that can serve as the basis of the formation of a person’s social identity in relation to other members of society. Along with this definition, Google also taught me the meaning of terms like cisgender, transphobia, gender normative, queer, bisexual, cissexism, pansexual, gender fluidity and two-spirited. As you can tell by me needing to define the word queer, I really did not know much.

What I learned from my mission to understand gender identity was that experience is the best way to learn. All I took for me was to put my fear aside, and, when appropriate, modestly ask those around me to help me learn how to define their identities and tell me how I can respect their gender identity.

Though I am a cisgender, heterosexual female whose preferred gender pronouns are she and her, I am trying and I am learning.

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McMaster students can now find 50 all-genders washrooms on campus. As per definitions from McMaster’s Equity and Inclusion Office define, these bathrooms are free to use no matter one’s gender identity.

Most of the facilities have been placed in the Ann Bourns Building, the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery and the future Living Learning Centre set to open in 2019, but the majority of the university’s buildings now have at least one all-genders washroom.

“Being able to access safe and accessible washrooms is a human right; however, for campus members who identify as transgender, gender non-binary, two-spirit or who do not conform to strict gender expectations, washrooms are often unsafe places where they may be subjected to verbal and physical harassment,” read part of a statement from the Equity and Inclusion Office.

A second-year non-binary McMaster student who requested to be referred to under the alias of Jay echoed this sentiment.

“I think it is critical to have all-genders washrooms because there are students with non-binary identities, and these students will not feel comfortable in washrooms that are assigned exclusively for men or for women,” they said.

Trailing behind other Canadian universities, such as the University of Toronto, York University and Ryerson University, the decision to implement McMaster’s all-genders washrooms initiative was years in the making.

“I think it is critical to have all-genders washrooms because there are students with non-binary identities, and these students will not feel comfortable in washrooms that are assigned exclusively for men or for women.”

Jay
Non-binary McMaster Student

The university’s facilities update is, in part, a product of recent, pro-LGBT legislative changes such as Bill C-16, which included gender identity and gender expression in the list of hate crime sentencing provisions in the Canadian Criminal Code and prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act. Another more local policy change was the pro-trans rights protocol that Hamilton City Council passed in March 2017.

On campus, the shift for McMaster to adopt all-genders washrooms gained traction when Ehima Osazuwa, the McMaster Students Union President in 2015-2016, ran on a platform that showcased the importance of gender-neutral washrooms on campus.

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With financial assistance from McMaster’s work/study program and project funding from the Equity and Inclusion Office and The President’s Advisory Committee on Building an Inclusive Community, trans, gender non-binary and agender students were hired to lead the all-genders washroom Project.

McMaster’s new washrooms are part of a multi-phased initiative aimed at improving trans inclusion on campus.

“[The] Equity and Inclusion Office will be launching an educational campaign for the broader campus community and on-line resource for trans, gender non-binary and Two-Spirit students, staff and faculty members,” said Vilma Rossi, the senior program manager of the Equity Services program at the university’s Equity and Inclusion Office.

“We’ve already started populating the site with information and will continue to do so over the next several weeks as we edit and confirm accuracy of information and contact person.”

As part of the initiative, the university also aspires to renovate the multi-stall bathrooms in the McMaster University Student Centre Atrium into new, multi-user, accessible all-genders washrooms.

“There really, I think, is no excuse for not having washrooms available for trans, non-binary, and Two-Spirit students… They should be expected from the university… Being able to change a sign is not a very difficult request,” said Jay.

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