LGBT Activist Group Launches Toilet Campaign

By Staff in Miscellaneous on Sep 17, 2009 7:00PM

Ever go to take a leak in a public restroom only to be greeted with the comment that you're "in the wrong one"? If your answer is "no," you're in the majority on this issue, but for others, this isn't the case. For those whose outward appearance for whatever reason doesn't jibe with traditional understandings of gender, being accosted while trying to use a restroom is an all-too-common experience. In an effort to combat the harassment of their community, a new Chicago-based activist group, Genderqueer Chicago, is launching The Toilet Revolution this Saturday. Organizers are urging participants to use the "wrong" restroom in various public spaces as they go about their business all day. And the encouraged response if given a hard time by other restroom patrons? "It's just a toilet."

In an e-mail message, organizer Peter Noble said Saturday's "city-wide theatre event" is just the beginning of a campaign to further spread awareness of the issues facing Chicago's genderqueers, an umbrella term encompassing all "who identify as genderqueer/genderf***/bi-gender/transgender or otherwise gender-non-conforming," according to the organization's website. "I see a world where these castes and categories we've boxed ourselves into will become dramatically less important. Where there is no longer a struggle for us all to simply 'be,'" Noble said.

So, if you see an unexpected face in a restroom while out and about this weekend, relax: It's just theatre. And it's just a toilet.

Post By Joseph Erbentraut