The symbol we dare not display

Here’s a headline from the front page of my newspaper: “All-gender restroom on horizon for high schools.”

It’s about creating a safe facility for students who don’t identify as male or female.

In combing the web, I notice that wherever one of these restrooms pops up, a news reporter is ordered to find some controversy, or at least an official who can explain how to build such a restroom.

Here’s what one of these officials said, “It’s really, primarily a signage chance.”

That’s how you do it! Find an existing restroom, and send a custodian to change the sign. But that in itself can create a problem because the sign is basically saying, ‘This is the place where all the gay and transgender people have to go.’

Here’s a student who says that these signs are forcing people to out themselves, “It’s just more of a reason to say, ‘Oh that persons different.'”

There must be a better way!

And there is: Instead of an all-gender sign describing who’s allowed to enter – the sign should simply depict what is inside. It should show a picture of a toilet, a urinal, or both.

The problem, of course, is Americans hate toilets.

That’s why we much prefer to say “bathroom”, even though the room barely has a working sink, much less a bath.

These are in fact toilets. So display a picture showing the kind of toilet, leave sex and gender out of it, and people can then make an informed choice based on what best fits their personal plumbing.

If we are honest with ourselves we know there are really only two sensible bathroom classifications: “Clean” and “Disgusting.”