‘I don’t get why people are so pressed about it,’ Loïs Boursaut wrote in a message to Cursor, referring to the comments some students left underneath news items about the new policy. The Erasmus student at Electrical Engineering has been in Eindhoven since September and didn’t even notice at first that the toilets in Neuron were gender-neutral. “I tried to make a mind shift and put myself in the shoes of people against it,” he later says in an interview. “But I truly can’t understand their point of view. I also think the debate about it can’t go anywhere interesting.”

He does realize that the mixed restrooms may feel less threatening to him than to women because he is a man. “I understand that toilets are an intimate thing and that girls might feel weird about everyone being able to enter. But in the common space you just wash your hands, at the end of the day the rest is about closing the door and doing your thing.” He thinks it’s good that these restrooms are there for people who otherwise wouldn’t know which one to choose, but he also thinks it’s nice for everyone to be able to go to the first restroom you come across.

Inclusive, but dirty

Originally, master’s student Eneritz Murillo also thought the restrooms were a good idea, as did others in her sorority. “In the beginning we were all like, ‘oh so nice, so inclusive.’ I also studied architecture, so I was also positive about the fact that they were making the most of the space like this.” But when she and her friends started studying in Neuron more often, the enthusiasm quickly disappeared because the toilets were dirty. “That is not because the toilets are gender neutral, but specifically because men use them.” They, she says, are unable to share the space with others in a  nice way, because they don’t pay attention to whether it gets dirty or clean the toilet after using it. “They don’t understand that women have to actually sit on the toilet.”

According to her, cleaning the toilets more often doesn’t do much good, because it doesn’t change the behavior of the men who make the toilets dirty. The only solution, she says, is if men learn to share a space, but she has little faith that this will happen. She still comes to Neuron often to study with her friends, but prefers to walk down a few more stairs to visit the lady’s room in the basement.

Urinals as a solution

Electrical Engineering master’s student Roel Wijnands agrees men are “super dirty” and doesn’t think this will change any time soon. According to him, gender-neutral toilets should therefore have urinals, for example behind a door, as included as an option in the new policy. “If you go to a toilet block without urinals in Flux, you’ll see the toilets are a lot dirtier. And you should definitely not use the restroom in Metaforum on Sunday afternoons: there are only two toilets for an entire floor with lots of study areas. Those are in worse shape than festival toilets that haven’t been cleaned for a weekend.”

Since most people around him have no problems with gender-neutral toilets as a concept, the discussions are more about how many urinals are needed and other details. An additional benefit of the urinals, according to Wijnands, is that people are in and out much faster. “If you see that women normally have to queue for the restroom for a very long time and in the men’s room all the stalls are free, why not also let women use them? It’s efficient and what does it matter?” At the toilets of the Walhalla cafe, where he’s behind the bar, it will actually be tricky to make the men’s rooms gender-neutral. “It’s not like it can’t be done, but right now you look directly at the urinals when you walk in. I wouldn’t mind it, but I can imagine women don’t want to see three guys pissing. But it would ultimately be up to women themselves whether they mind that or not.”

Both options

The main thing, Biomedical Engineering student Isabella Saan thinks, is that there’s a choice. “I myself am queer in terms of sexual orientation, so I know a lot of people who are too. What I do notice about people who are genderqueer is that they like the fact that these toilets are there. But as a woman, I also understand that you’re more likely to feel unsafe if you’re alone with another man in the room. So both options should be given.” In practice, the gender-neutral restrooms still feel “a bit weird” to her right now, but she expects she’ll used to them.

She thinks it’s a good thing the university creates this kind of policy. “It’s now a thing in society, as a university you have to keep up with the times. Inclusivity is important, universities can’t ignore it.” She doesn’t feel like people around her are very concerned with gender-neutral toilets. It’s only when it’s brought up that people start to form an opinion. “Which tends to be very rigid, and it quickly becomes about all of us having to adapt to a small group. Then I think: you’re entitled to your opinion, but it’s not like this is a very big adjustment. For people who benefit, it’s a big thing, for you and me it’s not. And if you don’t like it, just go to a men's or women's restroom, because there are still plenty of those around.”

*Last name known to editorial staff.