Potty Confusion in Personchester: Gender-Nuetral Toilets Cause Chaos at Manchester University
jonathanturley
Jennie Killip, the women’s officer at the students’ union at Manchester University, considered traditional toilet signs to be insulting to transgender students by referring to “Gents” or “Ladies” or “Men” or “Women.” What if you are somewhere in between, she asked. So, the school changed the signs to “Toilets with urinals” and just “Toilets.” The result was chaos as students ran about trying to decide where to go to the bathroom.
What is clear is that Ms. Killip began in the wrong place. The first step is to change the school name to “Personchester.” Now that I think about it, there is a serious problem with being a “women’s officer at the students’ union.” Is there a “persons’ officer”? To paraphrase Julius Caesar: The fault, dear Killip, is not in our signs, but in ourselves.”
