UMSU makes it into the BBC news!
UMSU, the University of Manchester Students' Union, has introduced gender-neutral toilets into the Union Building -- and made BBC headlines in the process:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7643175.stm
I can't say I approve of the BBC's slant on it in the North-West Tonight video clip -- they're obviously trying to ridicule the idea and treating it like a joke. Way to go to promote equality and diversity, guys. (Then again this is the North-West, which is a bit like country Queensland when it comes to progressive ideas...)
The very fact that there has been a row over it proves the need for the move, I think: women are complaining and saying things like "I personally wouldn't want to be in the same toilet as a man" and "Girls might not want to use the same toilets as boys", but what makes them think that transwomen feel any different? And, as UMSU's press release on the subject notes, there are still plenty of gendered toilets around for people who want to be picky.
(Yes, life has been progressing in the meantime but I've been lazy about posting about it; I just thought this scrap of news would be of interest to my f-list...)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7643175.stm
I can't say I approve of the BBC's slant on it in the North-West Tonight video clip -- they're obviously trying to ridicule the idea and treating it like a joke. Way to go to promote equality and diversity, guys. (Then again this is the North-West, which is a bit like country Queensland when it comes to progressive ideas...)
The very fact that there has been a row over it proves the need for the move, I think: women are complaining and saying things like "I personally wouldn't want to be in the same toilet as a man" and "Girls might not want to use the same toilets as boys", but what makes them think that transwomen feel any different? And, as UMSU's press release on the subject notes, there are still plenty of gendered toilets around for people who want to be picky.
(Yes, life has been progressing in the meantime but I've been lazy about posting about it; I just thought this scrap of news would be of interest to my f-list...)