---
title: We Ungendered Our Restrooms - And You Can Too!
teaser: 'How our NYC office ungendered our restrooms to better serve the needs of
  trans people who work in and visit our office.

  '
tags: trans,lgbtq,inclusivity,diversity,news
author: Avielle Wolfe
published_on: 2016-08-15
---

Hi. I'm Avi. I am a woman, and I am trans. I've worked as a developer in
thoughtbot's New York office for almost two years.

Just over a year ago, we moved out of a WeWork and into our own newly renovated
office space. The space has two restrooms, each with two stalls and one with a
urinal. When we moved the one with a urinal was labeled "Men" and the one
without labeled "Women".

Our Boston office has single occupancy, un-gendered restrooms and we wanted to
implement a similar solution in NYC, but the cost of renovating the restrooms
was prohibitive. We discussed un-gendering the restrooms regardless but
ultimately decided to postpone any changes because of a [NYC building code] that
requires gendered restrooms. It wasn't a decision I was happy with, but I was
working from home or from clients' offices most days, so I put it out of my
mind.

On March 23 of this year, North Carolina's governor signed into law [a bill]
that prevents trans people from using the restrooms they are most comfortable
in, threatening the safety of any trans person who needs to use a restroom in
public. The Obama administration countered by issuing [a statement] declaring
that trans children in public schools across the nation should be allowed to use
the restroom that matched their gender identity. 11 states responded by [suing
the Obama administration] over the policy.

Troubled by the recent events, I handmade signs to indicate that the restrooms
were no longer gendered, and taped them over the existing gendered signs.

![handmade ungendered restroom signs](https://images.thoughtbot.com/ungender-your-bathrooms/5vfip3PfQAGw0Q3WzXlp_IMG_3061.jpg)

I then posted in Slack to inform the rest of the office, providing links to
articles explaining the recent struggle over restroom rights.

Our office manager Stephanie took the next step, sending out an announcement
about the change and opening a discussion around our next steps. She included a
link to [OSHA's federal guideline] promoting the use of un-gendered restrooms,
superseding the NYC building code.

Multiple female identifying people raised the concern that they would feel
uncomfortable walking into the restroom if someone was using the urinal, so we
decided to cover the urinal with a backless cabinet, effectively decommissioning
the fixture and making the two rooms indistinct from each other.

![show picture of urinal with cabinet](https://images.thoughtbot.com/we-ungendered-our-restrooms-and-you-can-too/PxdxDpjxRaqGXquyzn8L_IMG_3448.jpg)

[We ordered ungendered restroom signs][signs], making sure they were embossed so
they would be accessible to the blind.

![our new ungendered restroom signs!](https://images.thoughtbot.com/ungender-your-bathrooms/S3E8v5P2SZCzxUOdCL6j_IMG_3187.jpg)

And voila! Our office now has two lovely restrooms that can be used by anyone.
If you have an office space with gendered restrooms, we encourage you to do the
same. If you are in a co-working space or share your restrooms with other
companies (as is the case for several of our offices), open a conversation with
the people who manage the restrooms. Share the OSHA guidelines. Talk with the
other people in your building about the importance of un-gendered restrooms. The
change may take time, but the effort is invaluable and future visitors to your
office will thank you for it.

If you're looking for more resources or want advice on how to un-gender the
restrooms in your workplace, feel free to [message me]. Happy peeing!

[a bill]: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/05/22/what-is-north-carolinas-bathroom-bill-and-other-questions-about-the-anti-transgender-hb2/
[a statement]: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/us/politics/obama-administration-to-issue-decree-on-transgender-access-to-school-restrooms.html
[message me]: https://twitter.com/euraldius
[NYC building code]: http://www2.iccsafe.org/states/newyorkcity/Plumbing/PDFs/Chapter%204_Fixtures%20Faucets%20and%20Fixture%20Fittings.pdf
[OSHA's federal guideline]: https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3795.pdf
[signs]: http://www.adasigndepot.com/gender-neutral-bathroom-braille-sign-trans-symbol.html
[suing the Obama administration]: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/05/25/479484932/11-states-sue-u-s-government-over-transgender-policies