Gender-Neutral Bathrooms

Everyone seems to be talking about gender-neutral restrooms this week. Several articles highlighted a group of LGBTQ+ individuals who are advocating for the Northwoods Mall in North Charleston, South Carolina to install gender-neutral bathrooms. One article linked a petition to their cause. 

State Representative Dan Frankel wants to make it easier for gender-neutral restrooms to be installed in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Currently, buildings “must seek a code variance from the Allegheny County Health Department” in order to install gender-neutral restrooms. Frankel is working to remove the county’s plumbing code in order to make restrooms more easily accessible to transgender and nonbinary individuals stating:

“The county rightly bars discrimination against individuals on the basis of their gender identity or expression, but then also bars the owners of buildings — potentially, their employers — from accommodating them. It’s time for Allegheny County to send a consistent message: that our community welcomes and accommodates everyone because diversity benefits all of us.”

In order to become more friendly towards transgender and nonbinary individuals, Planned Parenthood is installing gender-neutral restrooms and hanging up gender-neutral anatomy charts in examination rooms. One article from Syracuse University’s student news discussed the campus’ need for more gender-neutral bathrooms. One student stated, “Gender-neutral bathrooms are not only helpful for trans and non-binary folks, but also for people of different religions. People use it for different reasons. The stigma against folks who wear the hijab is very real.” They also mentioned, “A lot of these restrooms are supposed to be for folks that have a disability. I feel like SU does not do a good enough job of emphasizing that these resources are available.”