A bizarre incident has sparked controversy on social media since last weekend, when a young man posted a video describing his experience at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The individual, who identifies as gender fluid, criticized the world-famous museum for not providing gender-neutral restroom facilities.
"I enter the museum, I need to use the restroom, I look for non-binary bathrooms, and I can't find any!" he declared in front of the camera. "It's strange that such a world-renowned museum hasn't adapted, that it doesn't have this open-mindedness."
The situation escalated when he approached a museum official for assistance. "I go to see a manager, I ask him where the non-binary restrooms are. He tells me: 'ha ha ha, there aren't any, sir. The non-binary restrooms are here,' pointing to the trash cans. Do you think that's normal?" the young man recounted in his video.
The individual claimed that the lack of appropriate facilities forced him into an uncomfortable situation. "I had to urinate outside. I had to expose my penis in front of people. I'm scandalized," he stated.
Whether this testimony is genuine or not remains unclear, though in today's France, such incidents seem increasingly possible. The gender fluid individual has announced his intention to boycott the Louvre and file a complaint against the famous museum.
This demand, unfortunately, must be taken seriously as similar movements gain traction. Several French institutions have already equipped themselves with gender-neutral restrooms. These include the Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées department store, BNP Paribas offices, and companies like Spotify, Ubisoft, and Meta (Facebook's parent company).
Video game developer Ubisoft took this step as early as 2020 when opening its new offices in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne. The company aimed to follow the inclusivity trend that was sweeping the U.S. West Coast while responding to demands from transgender and non-binary employees who don't identify as either men or women.
According to advocates, people lacking spaces adapted to their gender identity are forced to avoid using restrooms as much as possible, or not at all. This can lead to serious health risks including infections, kidney problems, hemorrhoids, and constipation. The fact that these employees represent only a tiny minority doesn't matter to inclusion advocates.
"The fight for inclusion is worth it even for just one person," proudly affirms Céline Parsoud, diversity and inclusion manager at Ubisoft France.
Some argue that opening non-binary restrooms everywhere is urgent and simply a matter of equality. In 2017, The Guardian conducted a test with fifteen men and fifteen women using one restroom per gender. Men waited an average of 40 seconds, while women waited 2 minutes and 20 seconds. If both restrooms had been gender-neutral, the average wait time would have been 60 seconds.
Furthermore, a study by the Public Service Alliance of Canada demonstrated that physical discomfort, harassment, or fear of harassment experienced by transgender or non-binary employees can affect their well-being and, ultimately, their productivity and work performance.
This has fueled outrage from French LGBT media outlet Têtu, which asked: "How can we explain that gender-neutral restrooms aren't becoming more widespread in France?" The answer may lie in laws requiring employers to provide gender-specific restrooms for their employees.
This tendency to feel offended about gender issues and pursue legal action isn't new. In 2023, LGBT activists took legal action against SNCF (French National Railway Company) for only offering "Mr." or "Mrs." options on their forms.
"Reducing choice to a binary alternative means confining travelers to gender stereotypes and denying the diversity of LGBTQI people!" complained 64 SNCF customers, led by the associations Stop Homophobie and Mousse.
After seeing their complaint rejected by the National Commission on Informatics and Liberty (CNIL), the plaintiffs turned to the European Union Court of Justice. They're demanding a 200,000 euro sanction against the transportation company.
The question now arises: should museums also expect to face lawsuits from activists who are extremely particular about their gender identity? As inclusivity movements continue to gain momentum, cultural institutions may need to reassess their facilities and policies to avoid similar controversies.
