Youth hostels

[Girlyboy]

You would think an organisation like the Youth Hostels might be aware that there's more than two genders in the world. But no, sign up and you get asked if you are male or female. Try tell them you're not and they get a bit annoyed about it.

Surely people of neither male or female gender / or of both, depending on how you prefer to think of yourself, should have access to this affordable accomodation when travelling. Hevan knows enough of us get financially marginalised and need cheap accomodation on those rare occasion we do get to travel.

I'm trying to email them to raise this issue. Hopefully others can raise the issue too in their area.

Thanks,
GB

[Betsy]

hey GB, I can't help you on the hostel part but you got a couch in Easton when you come through PA.

Betsy

[Girlyboy]

I got the following response from the Youth Hostel Association, Hostelling International about my query as to if HI truely offered accomodation for intersexed people. It seems to me that the association has taken some posative steps, but they still have a long way to go.

I am not particularly happy with the comments about people who claimed to be intersexed. Oh I'm sure there are guys who caim that to get into a girl's room. But why not put them in a room of their own? Why this determined stance to provide accomodation only for the two larest gender groups? And why do intersexed people have to appear particuarly masculine or feminine? Why can we not just be ourselves.

I would stringly urge all of you to write to HI through their web site http://www.hihostels.com/openContact.sma to raise their awareness of how intersexed people feel about this. I for one am not really comfortable sharing a room with either males or females. I have found them to be rather narrow minded. :(

Dear Friend

Many thanks for your e-mail.

The Rome Hostel only has large single sex dormitories. Unfortunately they are not able to accommodate travellers in smaller rooms as they do not have the facilities. Most Youth Hostels belonging to Hostelling International operate single sex dormitories, only in a very few cases are mixed dormitories available.

If you wish to book into a shared dormitory, you should be aware of how other guests may react to your situation. In the past we have had hermaphrosites / intersexed people stay in dormitories without any problem, however, there have been situations where a guest who claimed to be "intergender" while not appearing, acting, or dressing particularly "feminine/masculine". They were accommodated in a female dormitory, but we had several complaints from female guests who were uncomfortable with a person that they felt was a male in their dormitory and washrooms. In that particular case the hostel was able to offer private accommodation. However this would not be possible at many hostels.

As you can see, with shared accommodations this can get quite complicated! In your situation, I would suggest that you contact the Italian Youth Hostel Association at info@ostellionline.org to confirm whether the Rome Hostel would be able to accommodate you. As we are dealing with the reality of shared accommodations and people's preconceived notions of gender you would need to contact the Associations or hostels for any bookings to ensure that you can enjoy your stay at the hostel.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to contact me if you require any further information

[Girlyboy]

Hey there, come on, tell me some one is doing something about this! Has no one even visited their site?

[Betsy]

Hey GB, I think part of the problem is most people don't see intersex as their sole gender identity. That is, most intersex people identify as either male or female and not as something apart from that binary. For instance, I am an intersexed person who identifies as female and as such would be horrified at the prospect of being treated as someone different or seperate because I was born with an intersex condition. Of course, I am also cognizant of the fact that my particular intersex condition is not the same as others nor yours.

Perhaps the solution is working towards non-gender specific accomodations rather than intersex specific accomodations.

Betsy