Gender Neutral Restrooms, A Rape Crisis Advocate's Perspective
By: Terri Collins For a little more than four years, I worked as a rape crisis advocate. I advocated for and counseled adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse and victims of rape. In addition to victims and survivors, I worked with their loved ones to help them understand and deal with the life-long effects of child molestation, sexual assault, and rape. The effects are devastating and real! For this post, I am going to put on my rape crisis advocate hat. My first experience with a gender neutral restroom was on my job. I work in higher education, and one day I went to a restroom that I had often visited down the hall from my office. To my surprise, there was a new sign on the wall, next to the door, that was much like the sign featured at the beginning of this post. I was startled at first, and I quickly took a glance at the restroom just next door. There was also a gender neutral sign on the wall next to that door. I am a little embarrassed to say tha...