IMU implementing gender-neutral restrooms

BLOOMINGTON, IN — The Union Board and the Indiana University Student Association passed a plan last week to create gender-neutral restrooms on the first, second and eighth floors of the student activities tower, according to the Indiana Daily Student, the independent student newspaper for Indiana University.

By May 18, the main entrance to the first-floor restroom will be open, and the two stalls, complete with locking doors, will be fully enclosed from floor to ceiling so that two people can use them at the same time, the story stated.

Bruce Jacobs, executive director of the Indiana Memorial Union, said: "Gender-neutral bathrooms provide for the entire campus community no matter what one’s sexual preference is. It is the best way to go to become more welcoming to the entire community. The Union’s basic purpose is to be a place that serves the entire community."

The second-floor and eighth-floor restrooms are already single units, so making them gender-neutral simply requires placing sign stating that they are gender-neutral, the story noted.

Before the plan was passed, the first floor only had a women’s restroom; men would have to go to the mezzanine or third floor to use a restroom, the story added.

According to the university, more gender-neutral restrooms are planned in several buildings across campus.