For my final action
project, I posted fliers around Pace University, asking people to “sign the
petition” for gender neutral bathrooms. Jordan, a student at Pace had already
begun a petition asking for more gender neutral and ADA accessible bathrooms on
campus. I am passionate about gender equity and transgender equality,
specifically in terms of bathroom safety, and thought expanding on a campaign
that was already in action at Pace would be a good way to create a stronger,
more impactful campaign. My fliers, only ask people to sign the petition made
by Jordan, directs people to where they can sign the petition, and provides information
on why it is important to support this petition. I made one main template for
the flier, but have multiple versions of the flier. One focused on general
safety in regards to bathroom use, while the other focused more specifically on
the needs at Pace and accessibility.
The fliers both raised awareness and incited
mobilization, by asking people to sign a petition that could potentially have a
strong impact on a proposal that has already been sent to the administration,
but has been stalled. The effectiveness of this campaign will be very strongly
focused on whether or not people actually show up to sign the petition. One of
my main worries was that people would want to sign the petition, but would not
want to direct themselves to the 9th floor of 41 Park Row. This is
why I thought beneficial to post up many of the fliers in Park Row, as to see
if people would be more likely to sign it, if all they had to do was take an
elevator ride. I attached the petition to a few of the fliers, to see if that
would be more effective. I was worried that there would be vandalism on the
petition, so I was hesitant to post with the flier. However, I have not
received any vandalism yet.
I posted most of my
fliers on each floor of 41 Park Row and in the 182 Broadway residence halls. I
found that in the residence hall, posting up the petition with the flier was
more effective than just posting the flier directing people to Park Row to
sign. I also found that using Facebook was beneficial because although the
flier gave some information, a lot of people wanted more information or did not
understand why the petition was put in place. I received questions and comments
stating, “but we already have gender neutral bathrooms, I have used one” or
“the dorms have private bathrooms, it doesn’t matter”. These types of responses
were easier to respond to online because with just the posted fliers, many of
this questions do not get asked or heard. I think using social media platforms
gave people more agency to ask questions and learn more, without having to go out
of their way. “Media can be a powerful tool to deliver a political message, but
the media is not the message– and media mobilization focuses attention on the
movement’s analysis, rights claims organizational soundness, and policy
prescription, for better or worse” (Brysk, 145). Brysk’s discussion of the use
of media made me conscious of how to use social media. I felt that it was
important to post my fliers online, even though the original plan was to post
only hard copies around Pace. I decided both methods were important because
social media can reach people in a way that hard copies posted on a cork board
cannot. As Brysk argued, media is powerful, but it can be both positive and
negative. Brysk argued that sometimes social media can be dangerous because it
can garner negative responses, or drudge up incorrect information. My attempt
with this campaign was to use multiple different platforms to gain the most
coverage.
I originally thought
about a way to post the petition online, however, I decided against this
because having hand written signatures seems like it would be more powerful
than a button click. It gives people their own voice, versus an online button
saying I agree. As Brysk discussed, the voice is important. I wanted this
campaign to have the voice of anyone at Pace that felt this was important. A
petition is a great way of connecting allies with an issue without over
powering voices of those who have been directly affected. This is why I liked
the idea of building off of the petition. I was very worried about who my voice
was going to be and by using these fliers and directing people to the petition,
the voice is the Pace Community, as well as those who responded to the survey
that I used in one of my fliers.
One of my posters holds a statistic, stating
“52% of trans & gender non-conforming individuals reported being verbally
harassed or disrespected in public restrooms” (Grant et al., 124). I was unsure
how to not overstep my place as an ally, but still create a meaningful
campaign. I attempted to let others, do the talking for me. I used one of the
only specifically transgender focused surveys, Injustice at Every Turn,
to get information for the flier. I was however, very careful of what words I
used. I did not want to sensationalize the campaign, or create pity for the
victim. My attempt in the campaign, was to simply show there was a need for ADA
and gender neutral bathrooms on campus, as someone had already demonstrated by
creating the petition, and get people to sign the petition. I framed the issue
as a human rights issue and a safety issue, rather than simply a transgender or
disability issue. I took my strategy from the article, “Spelling it Out: From
Alphabet Soup to Sexual Rights and Gender Justice,” by Sangeeta Budhiraja, Susana
Fried, and Alexandra Teixeira. They argued “rights-based organizing strategies
and development interventions around sexual orientation and gender expression
need to shift away from common categories of identity toward a broader context
of struggle” (Budhiraja, 132). Although some of the wording changes from post
to poster, the main tag line stays the same, “Public bathroom safety is a RIGHT
not a privilege.” I wanted to highlight the importance that many people take
for granted the ability to use a public restroom while at school. Being
transgender or gender non-conforming can make it difficult to use gender
segregated public restrooms for fear of intimidation, harassment, and violence
(Grant et al.)
I was, however,
conscious of the fact that I wanted to make sure I had the transgender voice in
my campaign, because that is mainly what I was focusing on. Although I was
framing the issue as a human rights issue, I wanted to make sure my voice was
strongly centered around transgender rights as well. Brysk wrote that
performance was a strong tool to use in a campaign. She said, “life narratives
of human rights abuses have become a powerful vehicle for human rights
campaigns” (Brysk, 109) I wanted to be able to use the power of performance to
share stories on the poster, however, when I put more specific stories on the
poster, it seemed to be too convoluted.
I think that this
campaign was successful because there are multiple initiatives pushing for
gender neutral bathrooms. The discussion around their importance has begun,
which is an important. This campaign was a building block off of previous
campaigns that I have been a part of or new about. I have done a lot of
research on the importance of gender neutral bathrooms, and have become very
passionate about. In early 2013, a coworker and I put together a presentation
that focused on teaching students, staff, and faculty the importance of gender
neutral bathrooms, and pushed for the implementation of more gender neutral
bathrooms at Pace. This presentation was constantly changing and evolving,
eventually including research on exactly how many gender neutral bathrooms were
in each building and on each floor of Pace, in the NYC campus, Pleasantville
campus, and the Midtown center. Taking the presentation even further, we teamed
up with students who were researching the accessibility of bathrooms at Pace.
The presentation quickly turned into both a campaign to educate about the need
for gender neutral bathrooms, but ADA accessible gender neutral bathrooms. This
research was compiled and given to the head of the LGBTQA & Social Justice
Center, who then formulated a detailed proposal, asking for the implementation
of more accessible gender neutral bathrooms. This bathroom equity campaign
would not have been possible without the collaboration of many different
students, staff and faculty who all have passions regarding transgender rights,
disability rights, and equity for everyone who attends Pace, and outside of
Pace. I think this experience and my experience in class during our
presentations, showed me how important collaboration is to make a strong
campaign.
A formal proposal
asking for more gender neutral bathrooms was created, all the research was compiled
and it was then sent to the provost and administration at the University.
However, after being sent in the end of 2013, the campaign became quiet. As we
waited for something to be done, we realized that after months there was
nothing being done, and no discussion being had. In March, Jordan decided to revamp
the fight for gender neutral bathrooms by creating the petition. This seemed
like a step in the right direction, to begin movement on a topic that I was,
and still am very passionate about. I had done so much research and focused so
much of my time on educating people about gender neutral bathrooms, but had
felt like not much had been truly done. I hope if this petition can get enough
signatures it could possibly make a difference in the forcefulness of the proposal.
I asked how I could get involved in this petition and make a change, and most
of the people I talked to said, just get signatures. That is when I decided it
would be beneficial to make informative posters, asking people to sign the
petition, while telling people why the petition is important.
On the New York City
campus of Pace University, there are no accessible or gender neutral bathrooms
on floors two through six, which are the main classroom floors. This is
problematic, because it forces someone who feels uncomfortable or is unable to
use the multi-stall, un-accessible, gender segregated bathrooms to take extra
time out of class, or feel as though they need to wait to use the bathroom,
which then causes health problems. This type of segregation also creates stigma
around people who do not conform to the gender expectations or ability expectations
that our society has. This needs to change!
More places to learn about gender neutral bathroom
accessibility in regards to transgender rights and equality.
"Toilet Training" Pamphlet
Transgenderlaw.org
Peeing in Peace
San Francisco Human Rights Commission Gender Neutral
bathroom survey 2002
Injustice at Every Turn
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Website
Bibliography:
Budhiraja, Sangeeta, Susana
T. Fried and Alexandra Teixeira. 2010. "Spelling It Out: From Alphabet
Soup to Sexual Rights and Gender Justice," pp. 131‐144 in Amy Lind (ed.) Development, Sexual Rights and Global Governance.
Brysk, Alison. 2013. Speaking Rights to Power. New York: Oxford University Press. Print.
Grant, Jaime, Lisa Mottet,
Justin Tanis, et al. 2011. Injustice at
Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. National
Center for Transgender Equality. http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf
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