Dive Brief:
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Charlotte, NC, could become one of just a half dozen cities to require contractors to build gender-neutral bathrooms in new buildings.
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The proposal to amend the city’s building code is a compromise to another plan, which would allow transgender people to choose to use either the women’s or men’s room.
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The existing building code requires new commercial buildings to designate restrooms for men and women. The sponsor of the compromise ordinance, Charlotte City Council member David Howard, told The Charlotte Observer he knows his plan is a long shot. “Nobody likes it,” he said. “So it’s probably the right thing to do.”
Dive Insight:
Developers, for one, don’t like it, as adding the additional restroom will add construction costs.
Still, a few other cities have adopted similar laws. Philadelphia started requiring new and renovated city buildings to include gender-neutral restrooms two years ago. On Jan. 1, an ordinance in Austin, TX, kicked in, requiring all businesses that have single-stall bathrooms to have gender-neutral rooms, too. A new law in West Hollywood, CA, prohibits gender identifications on bathrooms, so businesses are removing signs for men’s and women’s rooms. A similar law took effect in Washington, DC, in 2006, but hasn’t been enforced.
The “unisex” bathroom is becoming a common fixture on college campuses all over the country, largely because of efforts by the LGBT community.