Gender Neutral Bathrooms

Restrooms for All:

Transgender individuals and people who are gender non-conforming—or perceived as such—face significant discrimination. A recent survey found that 90 percent of transgender individuals have experienced harassment, mistreatment, or discrimination on the job, or have been forced to take actions, such as hiding who they are, in order to feel safe at their place of employment.

In that same survey, nearly 50 percent of transgender people said they have experienced an adverse job outcome—such as a denied promotion—because of their gender identity, with over half of these people reporting that they had lost a job because of it.

Earlier this month, the New York State Assembly passed the Gender Expression NonDiscrimination Act (GENDA) for the eighth time—a law that would bar, once and for all, discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression in big cities and small towns throughout the Empire State.

However, the State Senate has refused to bring GENDA to the floor, let alone pass this historic legislation that would bring New York law in line with 19 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico in protecting the rights of transgender New Yorkers.

New York City must not continue to wait for Albany to act. The City’s Human Rights Law already offers protection against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression, but more can be done to make the five boroughs more welcoming to all New Yorkers.

In addition to outright discrimination in employment and housing, transgender, gender non-conforming, and questioning individuals can endure damaging prejudice around something as simple and necessary as using a restroom.

Indeed, many transgender New Yorkers are forced to choose between using a space that matches either their gender identity or the sex they were assigned at birth. The Chelsea-based Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund has fielded calls from individuals across the country—including in New York City— who were either barred from using the bathroom appropriate to their gender identity or attacked for doing so.

This mirrors the findings of a 2011 survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which found that 26 percent of transgender students had been denied restroom access in educational settings, and 22 percent of transgender employees reported being denied restroom access at work.

Because transgender and gender nonconforming individuals are so often met with vocal or physical resistance in their attempts to access gender-appropriate restroom facilities, it is important to provide non-gender-specific restrooms where practical. Whatever the circumstances, restroom access is a necessity for everyone, and lack of accessible restroom facilities can lead to injury and/or illness.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently took action on this issue by releasing new guidance forbidding employers from placing “unreasonable” restrictions on restroom access and urging employers to provide single-occupancy, gender-neutral facilities.

While many entities—from the White House7 to many of New York’s great universities — have adopted gender-neutral bathrooms, New York City itself has done little to advance the cause.

Comptroller Scott M. Stringer is proposing City Council legislation that takes a pragmatic approach to providing access to gender-neutral bathrooms by:

• Requiring existing single-occupancy, publically-accessible restrooms to become gender-neutral, in both public and private buildings; and
• Changing City codes to give more building owners the opportunity to designate gender-neutral bathrooms.

This critical legislation reflects efforts that have been undertaken in cities across the country and will help ensure that all New Yorkers have access to a safe restroom.