The work at UNC Charlotte

www.uncc.edu 

Ashley Oliver, Graduate assistant at UNC Charlotte's Division for Student Affairs wrote in January about their university's Gender-Neutral Restrooms. I found the quick news story great for seeing the sort of language used to pitch the idea in terms of accessibility:

“The addition of more accessible and gender-neutral spaces will make the campus more inclusive and safer for all its students, faculty and staff,” said Josh Burford, assistant director for sexual and gender diversity with the Multicultural Resource Center and chair of the Trans* Committee.

“The goal of the new FSAURs on campus is to provide greater restroom accessibility, privacy and safety for everyone on campus, regardless of gender or physical abilities,” said Burford. 

I think I've been calling them "FSUARs" since that was how it was written in the AUCCCO Outreach Conference but I see it's just a little flipped around. I actually kind of like saying my version better, "eff-swars" or "fah-swars" but I guess "fah-sowrs" works too. Or perhaps it's "fah-sar" like Dinosaur.

Hmmm...

Okay. I like it.

The article also helps to identify the sort of committees you might want to partner up with to make FSAUR or similar restroom a reality:

The Campus Accessibility Advisory Committee, a 15-member group appointed by the chancellor, recently recommended that students be able to use any gender restroom on campus to which they self-identify. In response, the Trans* Committee and the Office of Disability Services have partnered in a joint effort to establish accessible and gender-neutral restroom facilities in every academic building on campus.

I'll be adding something like "Committees and Student Groups" to the resource list to check out when you're trying to advocate for trans-friendly spaces.