Inclusive bathrooms for stadium

City of Regina lauded for move to include gender neutral facilities at new football field

While plans are still being finalized, the new Mosaic Stadium will have gender neutral bathrooms — one step in the City of Regina’s efforts to be more inclusive.

In line with those efforts, The Mamaweyatitan, or North Central, centre will have four such bathrooms when it opens.

The gender neutral bathrooms will have signs that indicate they are available to anyone regardless of gender identification. They will be single-use and fully accessible.

Gender neutral bathrooms are a critical way municipalities can be more inclusive to transgender residents, said Stephanie Cox, cochair of the TransSask Support Services board. She said some transgender people are scared to use gendered bathrooms, while others feel having to choose either “Men” or “Women” negates their identity.

During a flag-raising ceremony at City Hall at the end of March for Gender Diversity Awareness Week, TransSask executive director Mikayla Schultz made a plug for gender neutral bathrooms, among other considerations.

“It’s great to see that moral support for the transgender community once a year, but how can we move forward and make some tangible changes for the trans community?” she said.

Schultz thought her request fell on deaf ears.

While existing city facilities do not have gender neutral bathrooms, director of community services Laurie Shalley said customers are allowed to choose the washroom or change room for the gender with which they identify. Staff are trained to instruct people they have this right, as well as to answer any concerns from the public, she said.

Shalley said as the city develops its facilities, it is exploring how best to be inclusive of all segments of Regina’s population.

As for programs and services, most are open to all genders.

“We don’t discriminate with respect to who can register for a particular program,” said Shalley. She added that some staff are going through training to reinforce that policy.

Schultz recommended that any registration forms that ask for gender be reconsidered “to ask themselves why are they asking for gender in the first place and is it even necessary?”

She said that educating staff — something TransSask is beginning to offer as a service to employers — is also vital.

The city’s human resources department has established a diversity and inclusion committee that is working with staff across city hall to address its workforce’s needs, said Shalley.

“It will help address employee relations issues,” she said, “and I think ultimately that kind of work will impact the service that we provide to citizens as the diversity of workforce grows.”