Woman thrown out of Ontario city council meeting for raising concerns on 'universal gender neutral common area'

The town of Cambridge, Ontario is in the process of developing a new recreation center, which according to blueprints obtained by Reduxx, will ditch regular sex-segregated change rooms in favor of a glass-walled "universal gender-neutral common area." 

During a recent city council meeting at which the proposal to go ahead with the plans was approved 7-2, a woman from nearby Kitchener tried to draw attention to the potential misuse of such a space, but had her concerns dismissed and was ordered to stop talking.

"At issue is the council's plan that is laid out in the MJM architectural drawings to have open universal bathrooms, changerooms, and showers," Janice Fiaschetti began. "I ask if any of the councilors provide a guarantee to ensure our children will be safe in any of these areas."

"Having these open areas whereby, for example, a young child or a young female can be changing, using the washroom, or showering with men who very well could be naked or choose not to cover themselves, would not be a safe environment for them," she continued, adding that naked women would also be impacted if there were young males present.

As Reduxx reports, the decision to use glass walls was made to "ensure 'safety'."

Fiaschetti went on to note that the plans included "grooming cubicles," wherein users of the facility can groom themselves. She, however, used that term as a segue to educate the councilors on the potential dangers.

At that point, she was asked to stop talking, with Mayor Jan Liggett stating that she was "going in a direction that is not allowed here."

Liggett then claimed that what Fiaschetti mentioned had "nothing to do with this facility," to which she replied, "absolutely it does."

When Fiaschetti failed to abide by the council's request that she sit down, security was called and she was escorted out of the room.

According to the CBC, councilors defended the facility's gender-neutral spaces, with one saying fears were "misplaced." Construction is expected to be completed by 2026.