Lennoxville's Champlain College inaugurates 1st gender-neutral washroom

Champlain College in Lennoxville, Que. has cut the ribbon on its first gender-neutral washroom, and the CEGEP is hoping it serves as an example to the rest of the community.

"It's something we should be seeing everywhere," says Ocean Francoeur, one of the students behind the initiative.

Francoeur is part of SEXed, the Champlain student group that organized a petition asking for a gender-neutral washroom.

"I think [we need to] normalize it… because it is a necessity for people," she says.

Student and SEXed member Kyle Doucette says the growing number of transgender students at Champlain were the inspiration for the push for the washroom.   

"We have several students that are complaining or not necessarily feeling safe," he says. "I think that was the seed to it all. We said, this is a need."

'Why do you need this space?'

After receiving the petition, interim campus director Nancy Beattie says the administration was happy to accommodate the request.

"We do have had an increasing number of transgender students. Obviously, for them a safe space and a place where they don't have to bear the label of male or female was becoming more critical," she says. 

SEXed coordinator Anabel Pinero said she didn't encounter any outright opposition to the idea, but did field a number of questions.

"A lot of people said, 'Well, why do they need the space? Isn't there already a washroom they can use? Why do we need to label it as gender-neutral?' The fact is by really giving the signage, we're also making a statement," she says.

Champlain College joins a growing list of schools with gender neutral washrooms, including Vanier College, Concordia University, and McGill University.