A UCB student who recently underwent gender reassignment has said the opening of new gender neutral facilities at the University 鈥渕eans the world鈥�.
Emma-Jane Burness, who was born male but knew she wanted to be female aged 12, welcomed the new changing facilities and toilets at Summer Row, built to answer rising demand.
鈥淏efore, I felt awkward having to choose whether to use the male or female toilets,鈥� said the 26-year-old, who is currently studying a master鈥檚 in Aviation Management at UCB.
鈥淚 felt like I was constantly making sure I was making the right choice, not just for me, but for other people. The easiest option was the disabled toilet, which essentially doubles up as a gender neutral toilet, but then disabled people wouldn鈥檛 have access if they needed it. Knowing these new facilities are there takes away that level of stress and there鈥檚 going to be a group of students going through transitioning that will really appreciate this.
鈥淚t might seem like a little thing to some people, but it means the world to me.鈥�
Gender dysphoria is a condition where a person experiences discomfort or distress because there's a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity. According to from the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), as many as 50 children a week are referred to the UK鈥檚 leading gender identity clinic, up from just two in 2009-10.
The new gender neutral facilities at UCB, which have five dry changing cubicles, five showers and wet changing cubicles and two toilets, are designed to meet today鈥檚 鈥減rivacy needs鈥�.
Tom Hacker from UCB Estates said: 鈥淚n the past year, in particular, we鈥檝e seen a definite increase in demand for gender neutral facilities, which may be the result of a rise in media coverage, with many leading institutions now opting for a gender neutral approach.
鈥淭hrough the Guild and Student Services鈥� Health and Wellbeing team, we had around 25 requests from students and five from staff, and researched how best to deliver the facilities at UCB, looking at those offered by the NHS and the likes of University of Birmingham.
鈥淯ltimately, the facilities promote and encourage equality at UCB and cater for the needs of everyone. They are just like any other changing facility, but meet the privacy needs of the user and anyone, including staff and stakeholders, are very much welcome to use them.
