Gender-neutral toilets introduced at University of Northampton

Victor Agboola, President of the Students’ Union at the University, said there was a growing population of transgender students who would feel more comfortable using gender-neutral toilets.

There has also been a recent consultation with the university’s LGBTQ Society and specific members of the student population who have visited the Students’ Union.

The toilets that are now gender-neutral are the former single cubicle disabled toilets, therefore there will not be two people of different genders in the same room at the same time.

Mr Agboola said; “Some students would be more comfortable using gender-neutral toilets and at the start of this academic year we had a number of students here visit the Students’ Union and tell us exactly that.”

Nick Woodward, Vice President of the Students’ Union, added: “The provision of gender-neutral toilets, or all-gender toilets, is a matter of accessibility and of inclusivity. That some students described having to ‘hold it in’ until they got home was, to us, unacceptable and so we worked with the university to see its speedy introduction.

“Their provision will see a space they feel comfortable in using, that does not infringe upon the comfort of any other person and should aid in reducing the stress these students have felt on a daily basis.”