There is a grand scale debate over the inclusion of gender-neutral bathrooms into public locations like businesses and schools. The controversy of allowing or forbidding gender-neutral bathrooms has begun to gain more and more attention, by becoming an issue that many cities face. The question is: should we build gender neutral bathrooms and how would this affect society?  Some believe that it will cause a safety issue, others state that slowly incorporating them into society wouldn't be much of an ordeal.  If correctly applied, gender-neutral bathrooms would have my full support. I had previously voted on this issue in my home town before researching about it or educating myself on both sides of the argument. My church was the first to inform of this issue and I only heard the opposing side's point of view.  After doing some research I realized that the way I voted was not the way I truly should have.  This controversial choice affects almost everyone who uses public restrooms.  I've been taught all my life to be against something of this caliber, due to my strong Christian upbringing, but  I believe that everyone should be given a fair and equal opportunity to be accepted in today's society.  By looking at gender neutral bathrooms, it is clear that we should incorporate this on an individual scale, this is important because it will allow for society to accept transgendered citizens and allow for a solution to any prejudice. 

An article by Elizabeth Nolan Brown 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.  The first state law was passed there in Massachusetts mandating women's restrooms in workplaces for the female employees.  For example, "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."  (Brown).  The article also states that throughout history in Ghana, China, and India, public restrooms being shared by both genders was a common thing to do within the society.  With today's laws it makes it 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." (Brown).  This creates obstacles in finding a way to incorporate a large-scale revolution to the public restroom standards.

The debate on gender neutral bathrooms has been an ongoing topic for the last 5 years.  The main argument against the installation of these gender neutral bathrooms is that these bathrooms open an avenue for sexual offenders and curious teenage 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 just transgendered people, cis-gendered people, or parents.  However, transgendered 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 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 it be the opposing 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, Charlotte focused on a "nondiscrimination" proposal for private businesses to accommodate cis-gendered person's 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, so implementing a large scale gender neutral bathroom with multiple stalls would allow for more harm than the intended good.

The transition into gender neutral bathrooms itself is dependent on several boundaries that oppose 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 started with the Department of Labor and the Human Health Services.  

The gender neutral bathroom revolution is continually becoming a larger issue in today's society.  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 individual-based bathrooms rather than a large scale attempt at reformation.  In continuation the individualized bathrooms would be set in a larger room with around 8-10 individualized bathrooms in order to cut down on lines, or even just have that available for those who are LGBT.

Gender neutrality is a much bigger issue than Congress can handle with one bill or one law passed.  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 when 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. 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 and individualized scale this will allow for a way to be able to kill two 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.  In 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, 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 make renovations for their 90,000 students and four different campuses.  Cottrell states that at first their idea was to incorporate gender neutral bathrooms on a larger scale; 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 serves as a precedent 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).  This allows a positive change for the better of society and allows people to feel free in 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 nondiscriminatory proposal, was recently rejected in Charlotte that would have allowed for gender neutral bathrooms to be installed in businesses and other public facilities.  The voters' 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 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 influential change.

There is 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, causing an issue of funding.  Not only does the bill 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 to continue the revolution, but it also seeks to cut out some opposition by being able to increase the security and allow for a better way of monitoring 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, the nation's most prominent address added a gender neutral bathroom at. 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, as well as 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 separating each other and just be equal.  Although some may not see these gender "segregated" bathrooms as Jim Crow laws, 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 will be less problematic than the opposing side believes. 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 have a common ground, like a heavily secured individual style bathroom. We as Americans should be able to move forward in society, and accept the hardships of others, even if we don't fully agree.  As this issue 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 will be more support.  

