The Transgender Law Center, along with numerous educational institutions, lawyers, architects, and building code experts, are petitioning the International Building Code to make all single-occupancy restrooms unisex. The petition will be submitted to the International Code Council by noon PDT this Friday, July 17th. Several cities, including Seattle, Santa Fe, and Washington, D.C., have already changed their building codes to allow single-occupancy bathrooms to be designated gender neutral. Those who wish to join the petition should email their name, the title of their organization and/or affiliation, and their geographical location to: info@designinpublic.org. Their names will be added to the full petition with a pre-formulated comment and then submitted to the ICC as a collective document. 

As petition-supporter Susan Surface of Design in Public notes, "Current building codes typically require facilities to maintain separate Men's and Women's restrooms, including restrooms that are designed to be used by only one person at a time. Under the current absurd regulation, a building could have, for example, fifty single-stall toilets in it -- but unless there is signage labeling each room as 'Men's' or 'Women's,' the code effectively recognizes the building as having zero toilets, and therefore not up to code. None of that makes sense, so we're asking them to change the code to something that serves people better.

There is a growing recognition that expanding access to gender-neutral/unisex/all-gender restrooms is a public benefit for all kinds of people: from trans and gender nonconforming people needing safe restrooms, to disabled people and their caretakers, to families, to anyone faced with long lines when an adjacent restroom sits free and empty simply because it has a different sign on it."

Alternatively, individuals who wish to make their own comment may do so at the ICC's website by registering and logging into cdpACCESS at http://bit.ly/1O6YVO6. Once logged in, individuals should click on "Create a Public Comment" then "Review Proposals & Create Public Comments," and then search for P43-15 in the search bar. After clicking "Create Public Comment," users can open the drop-down menu by "Requested Action" and choose "Approve as Submitted." Individuals should paste their comment into the "Commenter's Reason" box and click "Finalize and Submit" on the right column. Be sure to tick the "Submit Public Comment to ICC" at the bottom of the page.