Thursday, September 29, 2011

University Of Texas Installing Gender Neutral Restrooms

Y'all know as a proud University of Houston Cougar I have no love for burnt orange when it comes to the sports teams representing that school in Austin.  

But I have to give the University of Texas at Austin their props for their initiative to install gender neutral restrooms in all new and existing building on campus.

According to a July 25 story in the Daily Texan, Linda Millstone, the associate vice president for the Office of Institutional Equity and Workforce Diversity, is leading the effort to have at least one gender neutral restroom for every five floors of UT on campus buildings.

She went to the Building Advisory committee with the idea of having any newly constructed or future on campus buildings include gender neutral bathrooms in their design blueprints.   They not only agreed to do so, but Pat Clubb. the vice president for University Operations also agreed to fund the installation of gender neutral restrooms in all existing UT-Austin buildings as well. 

“Most buildings already have one or two single-stall restrooms, so it has been as easy as taking down the male or female sign and installing a lock on the door,” Millstone said.

Millstone said gender-neutral restrooms benefit a number of different people, including GLBT-identified persons, people with disabilities and people with medical conditions such as diabetes who need a private place to administer medication.

The list of gender neutral restrooms will be posted on the home page of UT's Gender And Sexuality Center webpage and according the article was supposed to be updated by the end of the summer.

Will check with my friends on the UT campus to confirm if the gender neutral bathroom list that is posted on their site is or has indeed been updated. 
 
As I keep telling you TBLG peeps who wanna reflexively hate on Texas, my home state is a little more complicated and more purple than the bright red hate on BTLG people narrative the GOP and others would like you to believe.

But major props to the University of Texas at Austin for this proactive move on gender neutral restrooms. parts.

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