Gender neutral hall residents have been in conflict this semester when it comes to the signage of their restrooms. Last year, the hall’s multi-stall restrooms were very clearly labeled as gender neutral, which allow any student, regardless of gender, to use them. While this year the hall was supposed to be gender neutral, the multi-stall restrooms were labeled with “Men” and “Women” signs. However, residents have collectively decided to use the restrooms as if they were gender neutral. Despite this, there have been recent allegations of conflict with facility workers over this decision. Resident Brian Iglesias claims he was told to leave the restroom by one of the janitors on the basis that he was a man in what had been labeled as a women’s bathroom. “I explained to her that the hall was gender neutral, so the signs didn’t mean anything and pointed to the ‘Human’ sign I’d made out of sticky notes to put over the ‘Women’ sign. She looked me dead in the eyes and tore it down,” he said. Later, Iglesias replaced his signs but they didn’t last the night. The next morning, Iglesias says he found the janitors cleaning and the signs were gone. “I just kept replacing them after that. I had plenty of sticky notes,” he said. Creative Writing major Dee Rose described a comparable experience. “I was in the bathroom washing my face… This guy from the cleaning staff walks in and tells me I can’t be in there. I thought he meant because he had to clean, so I pointed out that I wasn’t the only one in there. Both my hands and face are covered in soap during this whole conversation. He tells me again that I have to leave, but this time he says it’s because I’m a woman in the men’s restroom. I try to tell him that it’s gender neutral, but he said ‘No, the sign says men’s, so it’s men’s.’ I tried again to clarify that even though the sign says it’s men’s, it’s not….Everybody is allowed regardless of gender. He still makes me leave. I got the soap off my hands, but not my face. So I found myself sitting in my room, face full of soap, and my glasses still in the bathroom,” she said. After learning from Housing Director Connor Nelson that the hall wasn’t fully gender neutral, Iglesias made the decision to stop making his temporary signs until the hall was officially labeled as gender neutral in the school’s system. Nelson has released a survey for residents of the hall to officially make a decision on the restrooms. Until every resident has taken the survey, a decision about the bathrooms will not be officially made. Other residents took up the gauntlet and continued to cover the permanent signs with temporary, paper ones. One student, who wishes to remain anonymous, decided to remove the permanent “Men” and “Women” signs completely, hoping that would solve the issue. However, there are obvious problems with this approach. “They really shouldn’t have done that,” Nelson said, explaining that if the hall were to be used as anything other than a gender neutral hall in the future, they would need to order new signs. “We didn’t say anything about it, though,” he said, explaining that he understands the desperation behind the removal. Housing decided to not take action against the student for removing the sign and hopes that once the survey is complete, they can put up new, gender neutral signs for the hall. “We’re just waiting on a few people to turn in their survey before we make a decision,” Nelson added. While residents hoped removing the signs would solve the issue, this wasn’t the case. Allegedly, at least one janitor began writing “Men” on one of the restrooms in permanent marker. “She just came through with a sharpie… and wrote on the door. I was watching her,...

Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales talks to Jackalope about his proposal for citywide gender neutral bathrooms.

Visiting the restroom seems a like a mundane and easy thing to do for most people. You walk in, do your business and leave. Maybe you stop to fix your hair or chat with someone while you wash your hands, but typically the most anxiety you’re going to run into is an empty paper towel dispenser. Up until recently for transgender and non-binary students, however, the experience has been much more complicated. Luckily, for many transgender and non-binary students on the Santa Fe University of Art and Design campus, this is becoming less of an issue. The library has just opened a new gender neutral bathroom for students whom going to the restroom has always been an issue. While there are other buildings on campus that have gender neutral bathrooms such as Benildus (bottom floor, near the vending machines), the library is the first location that is a. near the dormitories and b. a place where students of all majors spend their time. “Bathrooms became a source of anxiety for me when I realized that I didn’t feel right in my own skin anymore,” says Cris Galvez, a transgender man and junior Creative Writing major. While Galvez was born female, he identifies as male and like many transgender individuals, has always had a difficult relationship with going to the restroom. When you’re anything but cisgender, going to the bathroom is not as simple as picking a door to walk through. Using the restroom meant for the gender you identify as might feel good, but if your sex (what’s in your pants) doesn’t match up with your gender identity, you’re likely to get a few stares at best or, at worst, beat up. If you go into the restroom for the gender you were assigned at birth but don’t identify as, you’re likely to feel anxious or frustrated because the sign on the door doesn’t match up with how you feel inside. “It’s as simple as changing the signs,” says Librarian Sierra Parson. She wants the library to be an inclusive, welcoming environment, which is why she reached out to COLORS President Colin McIntire (who could not be reached for comment) about installing a gender neutral bathroom. COLORS is the Gay Straight Alliance on campus and is responsible for both the gender neutral bathrooms on campus and the gender neutral dorm that opened up this year. Together, Parson and McIntire were able to change one of the bathrooms already in the library from a single gender restroom to an “All Genders Restroom” as the new sign says. “I mean, we have six of them [bathrooms],” Parsons says. “I think it [having gender neutral bathrooms] is important.” The administration was very supportive of COLOR’s initiative for gender inclusivity. “However, they did say at first that it wouldn’t be possible to achieve before the fall semester of 2015. This was in February 2014. We had to say “No way” to that. We insisted that the gender neutral hall and bathrooms would have to be instated no later than fall semester of 2014, and we ended up pushing hard enough!” says COLORS Vice President and Senior Film Major, Tom Grimes. He was part of the team that got both the gender neutral bathrooms in Benildus and the gender neutral hall in St. Mikes. When it comes to gender inclusivity, SFUAD is definitely ahead of the curve. While colleges like UNM have gender neutral bathrooms, very few campus have gender neutral housing options. “I was super stoked to hear that there was a gender neutral bathroom in the library after all of the hard work it took to get them in Benildus and the gender neutral hall. It’s nice to have more safe spaces like that on campus,” says Shelby Criswell, a Sophomore Studio Arts major and creator of the popular web comic “Awkward Shelby.” Criswell identifies as Neutrois which falls under the umbrella...