Sharing space is nothing new. Sharing bathrooms is nothing new. The reactionary outrage is so manufactured.
The parking lot? As in the gender neutral parking lot? As in a place where you have no privacy?
These are the bathrooms at the airport in question:
As you can see, complete privacy for all waste-expulsion activities. You only encounter other people around the sink.
This just proves a point that I’ve repeatedly noticed and it’s that every time a bathroom goes gender neutral it gets about a hundred percent safer.
I distinctly remember coming back from college to find that they’d converted the two of the bathrooms into all-gender restrooms. Among the changes were doors that went all the way up and down, a locking mechanism within the door, and actual door handles. Even the single-occupancy bathroom got a wall for extra privacy.
In contrast, I remember the women’s bathrooms in my old school. They were broken as shit. Some doors needed to be held by a friend, some doors you held with your foot from inside. The wheelchair-accessible bathroom straight up did not have a doorat all. And yet we all pretended this was okay because hey, the womanly honor code. You think that shit would have flown if there were two gender-neutral restrooms?
All I’m saying is that if I were fleeing a predator or wanted to be absolutely sure I was private, which one would be the better option? The one that assumes that a “no penises allowed” sign will be enough? Or the one that actually, physically protects me?
Also, nongender restrooms are better for parents. My brother and I grew up raised by my mom. While nothing ever happened to him going into the bathroom alone, not even like a poop accident that he would have needed help cleaning up with, my mom certainly got anxious sending a seven-year-old into the men’s room unaccompanied. A nongender restroom means that parents of small children can worry less about their kids.
Gender neutral bathrooms are The Shit. I love the privacy. Like as someone who gets menstruation related intestinal issues, the ability to just have an actual fucking door, and some goddam privacy is awesome. Gender neutral bathrooms benefit everyone. And back to the parents/caretakers of children thing, imagine if you’re a dude who’s out with a fairly young daughter or niece, what the hell do you do if there’s no family or gender neutral washroom? Use the womens’ and deal with the weird looks and/or comments, or chance it with the guys bathroom? Gender neutral bathrooms solve dozens of problems at once, including partially eliminating a need for family washrooms, as a gender neutral bathroom with change tables would take care of all that.
