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Entity explains that tThis is the real cost of gender neutral restrooms.

The year is 1739. Benjamin Franklin will not discover electricity for another twelve years and Victorian men reportedly covered piano legs out of modesty. This is the year that the novelty of men’s and women’s restrooms was introduced. Before 1739, public restrooms were not marked according to gender. Over the years, separate restrooms became the norm as more and more women began to work outside the home.

In the “Dear Colleague Letter on Transgender Students” letter released by the Obama Administration in May of this year, the dignity of transgender and gender binary non-conforming students was legally granted. In addition to creating a more comfortable environment for these diverse students in a myriad of ways, the letter reinforces an earlier statement released by the US Department of Education which states, “If any student requests additional privacy in the use of sex-specific facilities … access to a reasonable alternative [will be provided].”

The document lists among these alternatives the use of public restroom stalls. As a result, schools and institutions across the company are considering the installation of gender-neutral restroom facilities – but at what fiscal cost?

There is one legislative barrier to the mass creation of unisex bathrooms. This is potty parity, the building policy that across the country dictating that the ratio between women’s and men’s restrooms must be roughly 3:2 (with some variation). In this case, potty parity could disrupt the creation of gender-neutral restrooms in small business locations, where there are only five restrooms to begin with. For locations like these, gender-neutral bathrooms would have to be installed, often at a great price.

“The cost of a new bathroom can vary widely,” estimated Alejandro Ortiz, founding architect of the prolific Ortiz Architects of Los Angeles. Considering that layout changes may be necessary for smaller businesses that don’t have the space to simply rededicate other bathrooms, this cost could range between $20,000 up to $50,000.

Luckily, larger institutions do not face the same obstacles. Contrasting with the $50,000 bill a smaller business may have to swallow, institutions like schools may be able to accomplish the feat for as little as $500. One Oregon school did. According to a piece from The Orgeonian by Nicole Dunga, Grant High School made the decision to rededicat already existent unisex or family bathrooms as gender-neutral. They only had to pay the price of signage and changed locks. “Officials say four student restrooms and two staff restrooms—all single stall—will be open to all students … The conversion cost less than $500, most coming from changing interior locks.”

However, the benefits of gender-neutral bathrooms reverberate far outside the transgender and non-binary community. They also benefit children and adults with special needs. One mother, Jennifer Litton Tidd, wrote an article for LGBTQ Nation about her experience in having a tall 10-year-old son with autism. Her article speaks powerfully of instances in which women outed either her or her son from public locker rooms and restrooms when she accompanied him by necessity to the bathroom.

Exasperated, Tidd writes, “Must so many people who are different dread something as fundamental as going to pee in a public restroom? It is crucial to understand that passing strict gender segregation laws not only demeans and endangers our transgender brothers and sisters, but also puts severely disabled people with caretakers of the opposite gender in extreme danger in many cases.”

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