In light of state law, Duke University is on a mission to relabel their bathrooms to be more gender neutral, The Chronicle reported. House Bill 2 requires a person to use the bathroom corresponding to their biological sex. While the project to relabel bathrooms began in the fall, the passage of the bill sped up efforts.
Duke University tweeted a strong condemnation of the passage of HB2.
The project is an effort from the Duke Student Government and Blue Devils United, as well as Facilities Management, the Office for Institutional Equity, the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity and the Disability Management System.
The move is being done to help students “feel welcome and wanted on campus and … a member of the Duke community,” Ilana Weisman, executive vice president of DSG, said.
“We are in a state that is very clearly not supportive of diverse gender identities,” she said, and that the bathrooms “make a strong difference, especially when combined with gender-neutral housing.”
Nicholas Antonicci, director of the CSGD said that the bathrooms accommodate one person at a time and can be locked. “There’s nothing that’s inherently different about them aside from the sign on their door,” he said. He spoke of “lessen[ing] gendered spaces on campus” so as to “create inclusion for transgender and gender non-conforming people.”
Without these bathrooms, students would feel anxious about where they use the bathroom, according to Antonicci.
“Having gender-neutral bathrooms in buildings goes a long way in terms of supporting somebody being on campus for educational reasons and allowing them to succeed and strive,” he said.
The project evolved from gender-neutral bathrooms in some buildings last year to single-stall bathrooms in every building. Signage will include an image of a toilet and handicap accessible indications, as images of people “can reinforce traditional gender norms which is counterintuitive to what we want to do,” Weisman said.
The facilities office will look into what other peer institutions are doing. The University of North Carolina is not complying with HB2, Campus Reform reported.
Last month, Duke Today and The Chronicle reported on making the move to shift some single-stall bathrooms to gender-neutral bathrooms.
Ben Reese, vice president of the Office for Institutional Equity, said that the move is “symbolic of our commitment to inclusivity in a broad sense and recognizing the fluidity of gender and sexual identity.”
The project is in line with the Duke Students for Gender Neutrality. In addition to supporting gender-neutral housing, the group advocates for “Accessible Unisex Restroom Options.”
In explaining “What We Stand For,” the group writes, with original emphasis, “unisex restrooms are not just for those who identify as transgender or gender non-conforming. They would be available for use by all Duke students who want to shake things up a bit, regardless of sex or gender.”
