Group Invites Community Input on Restroom Signs for Trans* and Gender Nonconforming People

Public restroom access for trans* and gender nonconforming people will be one of the topics for discussion at the upcoming Creating Change conference hosted by the National LGBTQ Task Force.

For many trans* and nonconforming people, using public restrooms can be a source of stress and anxiety because of psychological and physical safety concerns, according to the Chicago Restroom Access Project (CRAP), a working group of the Pride Action Tank.

CRAP is seeking community input from a wide range of people on four proposed designs for renewed signage on single-stall restrooms in the city. The restroom signage redesign is a project of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

The surveys will be available at the Creating Change conference at Chicago’s Hilton Hotel, which will take place Jan. 20-24. The conference is expected to be attended by 4,000 people.

Conference attendees can fill out and turn the survey in at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s booth in the exhibition hall. Individuals can also weigh in by indicating their favorite design on the Pride Action Tank Facebook page.

Or, mail surveys to: Pride Action Tank, c/o AIDS Foundation of Chicago, 200 W. Jackson Blvd., #2100, Chicago, IL 60606.

The survey will be open until March 1. The winning design would then be offered to businesses, schools, nonprofits and government offices to create a more welcoming environment for trans* and gender nonconforming individuals using single-stall restrooms.

Restroom access will be the topic of at least one workshop at the conference, “Increasing Access to Gender Neutral Bathrooms: Policy and Institutional Change,” on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 6:30 p.m.

Workshop presenters include Phoenix Matthews, University of Illinois at Chicago; Mickey Mahoney, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and Megan Carney, University of Illinois at Chicago.

Trans* and gender nonconforming people whose appearances do not fit common notions of masculinity and femininity are often subjected to stares, questions, comments, verbal harassment, and potentially, physical violence when they to use public restrooms, the Access Project says.

As a result, trans* and gender-nonconforming people sometimes avoid using public restrooms altogether, leading to such potential health complications as dehydration, urinary tract infections, kidney infections and other kidney problems.

Opening existing single-occupancy restrooms to people of all gender expressions, as was recently done in New York City, will diminish gender-based discrimination in Chicago public accommodations.

According to the Access Project says opening Chicago’s public accommodations will have a low impact on the use of facilities by people used to using gendered single-stalled bathrooms.

Members of the Access Project include: Kim L. Hunt, Dr. Phoenix Matthews, Mickey Mahoney, Megan Carney, Laura Stempel, Michelle Manno, Tracy Baim, Gina Olson, Brian Richardson, Karriem Watson, Chris Smith, Joe Betancourt, Nat Duran, Jessica Celimene-Rowell, Sharmili Majmudar, Francesca Gaiba, and Owen Daniel-McCarter.