Over reading week I took a trip to a town just outside of Nuremberg, Germany.

The first few days were totally devoid of visual stimuli in bathroom stalls- apparently paying €0.30 to use the washroom ensures a graffiti-free experience. After visiting malls, some bars, and a few train station washrooms, I was a little disappointed and began to think that this town was completely lacking in latrinalia.

Then I was directed toward the public library.

The women's washroom was slightly disappointing- the odd "Heidi loves Niels" scattered around the stalls. But the men's washroom revealed a goldmine of racial slurs, anti-Nazi propaganda, a few advertisements and predominantly, personal ads.
However, these personal ads were not the usual "Call Tom for oral xxx-xxxx-xxxx," most likely written by a drunken/malicious friend. These were serious, specific and detailed advertisements of a persons assets, or requests for a certain sexual favour. I was also told that these were not just meaningless jokes and scribbles, but that this certain washroom had actually become a meeting place in the gay community of this town.

I wasn't sure what to make of this. Is it unfortunate that the male gay community was reduced to meeting in public washrooms on the outskirts of town? Or was this an example of a reclamation of a space?

I pondered this question while taking some more photos inside one of the stalls. Absentmindedly forgetting to lock the door,a caretaker swung it open only to see me with a camera pointed at the back of the stall door, now his face. I tried to explain what I was doing, but the only answer I got was "NO GIRLS ALLOWED" from a very disgruntled, red-faced man. As I scurried out, this angry man followed me to make sure I didn't try to sneak back in.

Though this space may have been reclaimed by the town's gay community, it remained wholly gender dichotomous.