Cambridge, Ont. is getting a new $108M community centre, while controversy rages over its 'gender-neutral' change rooms and washrooms

Recently, Cambridge City Council voted 7-2 in favour of so-called “gender-neutral” or “universal” spaces for a planned recreation centre. This means there will be no segregated spaces for women and men, boys and girls, but rather, the change rooms and washrooms will be unisex.

In any event, at a recent heated council meeting, the change room/washroom design was a point of contention for some constituents. A CBC report noted that Kitchener resident Janice Fiaschetti stated:

You offer the universal open area for males, females and children to change and shower together. Part of the process of grooming children is establishing a connection, isolating a child, testing boundaries — of all which councillors, you're providing opportunities.

At this point, it was reported that Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett stopped Fiaschetti's presentation, stating that her concerns had "nothing to do with this facility."

Robert Allen of MJMA Architecture & Design told council that the goal of the gender-neutral washrooms and changerooms was to design a space that would be safe, accessible, and inclusive for everybody.

"What we're trying to do is have places that can accommodate people of different disabilities, people who may have an opposite sex partner that needs to give them a hand in a restroom or change room, and people that will have caregivers that may not be of the same sex," Allen explained.

Still, the question arises: is this really all about accommodating the transgender community?

And if so, doesn’t such accommodation already exist? Which is to say, many existing recreation centres feature du rigueur male and female washrooms/changerooms; as for the transgenders, they can use the family or “all-gender” change room/washroom. Could it be that the move towards 100% gender-neutral change rooms at the upcoming Cambridge Recreation Centre is essentially a solution for a problem that does not exist?

We recently visited Cambridge to investigate. We interviewed Janice Fiaschetti, a retired teacher, who says she has been unfairly characterized in mainstream media reports regarding the facility. And she points out a big concern for her is a logistical one. The facility will feature only 34 cubicles, and Fiaschetti believes this is going to lead to lineups for people wanting to change their clothes or have a shower.

We also reached out to Mayor Liggett. Some of our queries included:

1. What is behind this decision to go forward with gender neutral washrooms/changerooms?
2. We've been told that this initiative is all about accommodating transgender people. If so, why can't these people be accommodated in a separate all-gender change room?

We never heard back from the mayor, however, Councillor Adam Cooper agreed to an interview. Cooper, who describes himself as “non-woke”, says he supports the design featuring gender-neutral washrooms and change rooms. He believes much of the opposition to the design is being driven by misinformation and irrational fears.

Check out our interviews with Fiaschetti and Cooper and draw your own conclusions.

Of note: for those men who are aficionados of the urinal, we’re afraid that you are pissed out of luck. We’ve been told there will be no urinals at the upcoming Cambridge Recreation Complex. We have no idea if such a plumbing fixture is now deemed to be representative of “toxic masculinity” or if the absence of these fixtures is part and parcel of the ongoing unspoken strategy to emasculate men. Whatever the case, another question arises: how did going to a public bathroom and changeroom become so damn complicated in our young century?