There is a grand scale debate over the inclusion of gender-neutral bathrooms into public locations as well as businesses and schools. The controversy between allowing and forbidding gender-neutral bathrooms has begun to grow steam, becoming an important issue that many cities are facing: Should we build gender neutral bathrooms and how will this change affect society?  Some believe that it will cause a safety issue, others state that slowly incorporating them into society it won't be such a big deal.  I believe that if correctly applied, gender-neutral bathrooms have my full support. I had previously had voted on this issue at my home town before researching about it or educating myself on both sides of the argument.  My church had first told me about this topic and I had only heard it from the opposing side's point of view.  After doing some research I realized that the way I had voted was truly not the way I should have.  This research question affects almost everyone who use public restrooms.  Although I've been taught all my life to be against something of this caliber, due to my strong Christian upbringing,  I believe that everyone should be given a fair and equal opportunity to be accepted in today's society. 

In an article by Elizabeth Nolan Brown article gives the background of how separate gender bathrooms came to be and how they used to be gender neutral or male only, until a push for more women's restrooms in workplaces came up in 1887, in Massachusetts where the first state law was passed mandating women's restrooms in workplaces with the female employees.  "By the 1920s, most states had passed similar laws. That all seems relatively fine, but the problem happened when the government went beyond merely mandating that employers give all employees a place to do their business to specifying exactly how and in what ratios this must occur, in and out of the workplace."  The article also states that throughout history in Ghana, China, and India that public restrooms being shared by both genders were a common thing to do within the society.  With today's laws it makes it almost extremely difficult to create change, "In New York City, there is a 1938 code, a 1968 code and a 2008 code, all with different bathroom requirements, that apply to buildings based on when they were built."

The debate on gender neutral bathrooms has been an ongoing topic since within the last 5 years.  The main counterargument against the installation of these gender neutral bathrooms is that these bathrooms open an avenue for sexual offenders and curious teenaged boys to be able to harass and assault women.  These concerns are valid due to the fact that removing the gender restricted bathrooms opens free range to anybody not only transgendered people, cis-gendered people, or parents.  However, transgendered people and cis-gendered people still have rights and should not feel uncomfortable in any restroom for it is a necessary component of life.  When passing something as drastic of a change as gender neutral bathrooms it is always a good idea to look at society as a whole rather than just looking at a certain group of people, whether that being the opposition or the supporting side. 

The argument continues by stating that the implementation of these bathrooms would give comfort to a few, and extreme safety risks and discomfort to more. As stated in an article written by Mark Price about Charlotte's rejected transgender policy focused on a "nondiscrimination" proposal for private businesses to accommodate cis-gendered people access to the restroom of their gender identity.  The main argument of those who opposed the proposal, was that the passing of the proposal would endanger women and children, leaving them more susceptible to harm.  Bathrooms are extremely hard to monitor as it is today, implementing a large scale gender neutral bathroom with multiple stalls would allow for more harm than the intended good.

The actual transition into gender neutral bathrooms is dependent on several different boundaries that face those who are advocates of a gender neutral bathroom.  The article states that today there are two separate federal agencies that dictate public bathroom rules, the U.S Department of Labor for workplace restrooms and the Department of Health and Human Services for non-workplace restrooms.  These departments are inhibiting the possibility of gender neutral bathrooms, so if reform is truly sought after it may need to be dealt with starting with the Department of Labor and the Human Health Services.  

The gender neutral bathroom revolution is continually becoming a larger issue in today's America, in a recently proposed bill that supports single-occupancy bathrooms in the city of San Francisco for all genders.  This area is known for being one of the most LGBT friendly cities.  The author states that it should be easily passed and that the Transgender Law Center is actively speaking out for its cause.  The department stated that many people right now are negatively affected by gender-specific restrooms, like elderly caretakers, women standing in long lines while the men's restroom is near vacant, or a mother wanting to accompany her child in the bathroom.  With the passing of this bill the amount of good would be greater than the bad due to the idea of including individually based bathrooms rather than a large scale attempt at reformation.

Gender neutrality is a much bigger issue than congress can easily handle with one bill or one passed law.  Completely changing how society views bathrooms cannot and will not be a simple task.  Sexual assault and rape cases are already an issue in bathrooms that are gender-specific allowing for them to be gender free would just allow these cases to become more prevalent and more of an issue, if this were to be an overnight grand scale reform.  An issue as severe as bathrooms would have to be slowly introduced and be increasingly be accepted as normal, instead of trying to immediately change the way society views public restrooms  

I believe that everyone should be given a fair and equal chance at using the bathroom, no matter what gender you identify with or whatever gender you have changed to you should be able to use the required facilities.  The absolute best way at approaching this issue would be to include these bathrooms at an individual basis and see exactly how those work out.  Having an individual bathroom that would be able to lock removes the issue of safety towards our women and children, and it will allow for a more personal approach to give all of society a change for the better.  The argument not only can help reach some common grounds but can also allow for a cheaper way to go about this process, completely converting bathrooms to be "gender-less" can be a long, difficult, and costly challenge.  On a smaller ad individualized scale this will allow for a way to be able to kill both birds with one stone, satisfying those who are both for and against gender neutral bathrooms.  Everyone has to use the bathroom there is no question about that,  so why should we not accommodate for those in the society who are feeling targeted and uncomfortable.

Portland Community College took a large step into the realm of gender neutral bathrooms.  A conducted study of transgender people on various situations in public restrooms, 70% of those interviewed stated they experienced discrimination in restrooms.  "When Katherine Weadly, director of Lyons (Colo.) Regional Library District, began to notice many of her younger patrons didn't fit traditional gender norms.  When she started thinking about how to make the library a safer space for them, she came across the idea of gender neutral bathrooms." (Cottrell, 1). Cottrell continues by stating that Portland Community College received a $374 million construction bond to renovate for their 90,000 students and the 4 different campuses.  Cottrell states that at first their idea was to incorporate gender neutral bathrooms at a larger stance, however after many statements and careful consideration they decided to provide multiple individual bathrooms instead of larger multi-occupant restrooms.  The stance taken by Portland Community College serve as a precedence for other libraries in the future, "While some libraries are considering the issue as they build new spaces, others are figuring out ways to make patrons comfortable with their existing facilities. For many libraries, that means adopting a policy that patrons can choose the bathroom in which they feel most comfortable." (Cottrell, 2).  Allowing for a positive change for the better of society and allowing people to feel free at a place of acceptance and solitude.  The issue that people may use the restrooms for inappropriate behavior was addressed by Cottrell in the closing statements saying, "But in reality, those same risks exist with traditional gendered bathrooms, Coyl says, and for general security, librarians already need to be aware of inappropriate or problematic behavior in any space inside their building."

A nondiscrimination proposal, was recently rejected in Charlotte that would have allowed gender neutral bathrooms to be installed in businesses and other public facilities.  The voter's main reasoning being that it would make it harder to keep track of who was going into the bathroom, because you can't really tell their gender identification. The author then continues by stating that the reason that there are separate bathrooms is so you can have privacy from the other sex.  However some accounts of people say that it is already happening in private businesses and shouldn't need a policy.  However, if you are going to want to have a larger change and have it affect more people a policy needs to be put in place in order to be an effective change.

In another article that speaks of a new legal push to mandate single-occupancy bathrooms to be relabeled for all genders instead of "male" or "female".  The proposed bill would also require a gender neutral bathroom installed on each floor of new buildings prior to the bill being passed, if passed.  Not only does the ill allow for gender neutral bathrooms, but also addresses the security, "The bill would also go beyond similar laws in other cities by putting in place sweeping enforcement mechanisms, including a complaint process handled by the Human Rights Commission, an LGBT rights organization, and adding these facilities as a standard checklist item for building inspections." Not only does that help continue the revolution forward, but also seeks to cut out some opposition by being able to increase the security and allow for a better way of monitoring the bathrooms.  This proposed bill has started a landslide of different cities and states, "More than 150 U.S. colleges and universities have also instituted such measures, including the entire University of California system. In April, the White House added a gender neutral bathroom at the nation's most prominent address. These changes have prompted push back in a number of states, where bills that would determine access to public school restrooms according to a person's biological sex at birth are now being considered."

The article by Leslie Bow speaks on the issues of transgendered and transracial people in America and how they are both rejected, and also how they correlate to each other.  The author uses many different types of supporting evidence to correlate Jim Crow laws to the Men's and Women's signs hung outside of bathrooms today, saying that in today's society we should stop segregating each other and just all be equal.  Although some may not see this gender "segregated" bathrooms as Jim Crow like, to transgendered people it makes life difficult, "After the sex-change operation, S. began to use the ladies' room. There was an enormous outcry from women students of all political persuasions, who 'felt raped,' in addition to the more academic assertions of some who 'feared rape.' In a complicated storm of homophobia, the men of the student body let it be known that they too 'feared rape' and vowed to chase her out of any and all men's rooms."  That is something nobody should have to go through, having a gender change is a very monumental and big step into becoming who you truly are and to be publicly ridiculed and falsely accused of rape just for using a restroom is highly unacceptable.

Whether or not gender-neutral bathrooms should be passed is a hot topic in today's society.  While some are concerned about the safety of those who currently using the bathroom in peace, others are worried about having a peaceful place to use the bathroom.  If implemented on a small-scale primarily, individual bathrooms, then progressively introducing it into society there will be less problems than what is projected by the opposing citizens.  As a progressive America continues to grow you cannot sweep to the side a certain type of people, this is a type of segregation and needs to be have a common grounds, like a heavily secured individual style bathroom implemented, so that we as an American people can move forward in society.  As this spreads to future cities, informing people of the logistics behind the proposal and not letting people form an opinion based off of the title of the proposal, there would be more support.  

