The transgender bathroom debate is one that has been hotly contested in the past few years as transgender issues have gained visibility. While the University of San Francisco, like any other college campus, bills itself as an inclusive and diverse campus, those buzzwords mean nothing if you don’t put your money where your mouth is.

I’m a Biology student here at USF, so most of my classes are held in a tight hub—the high glass convolution of Lo Schiavo, the study hub of Cowell, and the permanently-stuck-in-the-90’s Harney. The bathrooms are much the same way in every building—rooms that strictly adhere to the gender binary. As a nonbinary and transgender student, I’m often uncomfortable with going into any of them, unless I’m sure I’ve given every other student a wide berth. While I have a lot to say about the transphobia that many Biology majors have, what’s more troubling is that three of the buildings on our campus that so many people use don't have gender inclusive bathrooms.

Our school’s robust nursing program garners a huge number of students. Computer science in Silicon Valley naturally draws prospective entrepreneurs in as well. Even media studies have a berth of classes that take place in the basement of Cowell. Think of the transgender students who, during the course of their long academic day, can’t use the bathroom in between their classes without dashing off to the University Center or, God forbid, Lone Mountain. In fact, those are the only two places that I’ve encountered accessible gender inclusive restrooms—and including Lone Mountain as “accessible” is pushing it.

And even then, the few bathrooms trans students have are often hijacked by cisgender students. I know that I and my other gender-nonconforming friends have derisively called them “cis poop rooms.” Cis people let their comfort trump the needs of trans people. That seems to hold true, even in residential halls—since the gender inclusive bathrooms on the second floor of Toler Hall don’t penalize two people of different genders entering together, I have on multiple occasions had to suffer through people using it as their liaison space.

I just want to use the bathroom. That’s been true ever since I was in high school and started to think about my gender and dysphoria. It’s been true ever since I tolerated stares no matter which bathroom I went in. And it’s been true ever since I’ve been thrown out of bathrooms—came back and got thrown out again when accompanying my trans friends. Maybe our school seems like it encompasses those buzzwords, but I’ve seen the scrawled words that scream “Fuck Trannies!” in both bathrooms. Let me be clear—stopping trans people from using the bathroom is all about cisgender comfort. Whether it be literally taking a dump on trans spaces or actively pushing us out in the name of “safety”, there is no safe place for trans people to exist if you won’t even let them into a normal public space. It’s about not acknowledging trans people’s struggles or that they’re even human. That, and this might be a new concept, trans people are everywhere. If you want a diverse campus, if you want to even claim you have a diverse campus, you need to make one that people can actually exist in without fear or discomfort. Put your money where your bathrooms are.

For the allies reading this, be mindful of how you tread with trans issues. Let trans people speak about why they need bathrooms. Maybe it’s a nonissue to you, but remember who is going through the struggle.

And seriously, stop pooping in our bathrooms.