How Architects Are Fighting For Gender-Neutral Bathrooms
Design could play a powerful role in the battle for equitable public restrooms, but outdated code poses a serious problem.
Design could play a powerful role in the battle for equitable public restrooms, but outdated code poses a serious problem.
On July 8, Massachusetts passed into law a bill that protects transgender people from discrimination in public places, including sports arenas, gas stations, movie theaters, and malls. For LGBT advocates, #TransBillMA was a victorious end to a fight that had lasted since 2007, when the first of several similar bills failed to pass. Maxwell Ng, an architect at DiMella Shaffer and the steering committee chair for Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, says he and the MTPC have been waiting even longer—since 1997, which marked the passage of a bill that protects transgender people against discrimination in housing, employment, and receiving credit from banks.