Bathrooms should be more inclusive at Hudson Valley

Jenny Caulfield
Creative Editor

Hudson Valley students should feel comfortable wherever they are on campus.

The reality of this is that there’s a population of students who do not feel comfortable doing something as simple as using the bathroom.

Gender neutral bathrooms, which can promote inclusion to all students, are becoming more popular at college campuses across the country. This step to do something as simple as bringing comfort to students should be something Hudson Valley welcomes with open arms.

If a trans-woman student uses the women’s bathroom in the Campus Center, there is a possibility that they will be told to use the “correct bathroom.” This acts as a form of ignorance, because you cannot always be sure of the gender identity of the person you’re speaking to.

With transgender males and females across the country fighting for their freedom to feel comfortable, it should be easy enough to allow for something like gender neutral bathrooms to allow for students to find comfort in their school.

Every time a transgender student uses the bathroom, it could be something that causes them pain. This sounds silly to others, as going to the restroom is a normal human function, but these students can feel stressed about which stall they feel they are “supposed” to belong in, not where they actually may want to go.

Bringing in gender neutral bathrooms could make it so students who already feel uncomfortable around the clock may now have a chance to find more ease on campus.

Someone’s body parts shouldn’t define where they are deemed to use the bathroom, which is something that the White House, as well as some colleges have started to agree with by implementing gender neutral bathrooms.

If Hudson Valley wishes to create a comfortable environment for all of their students, that should include students feeling okay with doing something as simple as using the bathroom. Even if they were to include just one gender neutral bathroom in a popular building on campus, this could be the start of students feeling safe in their campus environment.

Providing one gender neutral bathroom seems a small investment so that hundreds of students for years to come that can finally feel comfortable using the bathroom at Hudson Valley.