UNC Expects to Have 300 Gender-Neutral Restrooms

Posted on Sept. 1, 2016

As the University deals with dismay and confusion over the N.C. General Assembly’s regulation of public restrooms with respect to gender, it has settled on common signage for the more than 150 gender-neutral restrooms it has established on the campus.

The restrooms, reconfigured from existing facilities and outfitted with locks, now are designated with signs that show both the familiar male and female restroom pictograms along with a pictogram commonly used with facilities for the disabled and the word “restroom.” That will change gradually to signs using a universal toilet pictogram and the word “restroom.”

In a message to the campus community as the fall semester began, Chancellor Carol L. Folt said UNC soon would have close to 300 gender-neutral restrooms. She said the new signage “follows federal government recommendations and are similar to signs used around the world.”

One of the provisions of House Bill 2 requires people in government facilities — including public schools and colleges — to use restrooms that correspond to the gender on their birth certificate. A federal judge recently barred the UNC System from enforcing HB2’s restroom provision for three transgender plaintiffs.

Folt reiterated that “[w]e have long said that the University has not and will not be taking steps to enforce HB2. As reflected in long-standing University policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, and we are fully committed to being open and welcoming to individuals of all backgrounds.” She and the UNC System’s other chancellors have the backing of system President Margaret Spellings on the enforcement issue. HB2 was passed without enforcement provisions.

The University administration recently removed nonconforming signs posted on gender-neutral restrooms in the Campus Y. The restrooms had featured the Venus and Mars male and female symbols along with a third symbol that combined the two and the words: “This restroom may be used by any person regardless of gender identity or expression.”

A map showing locations of gender-neutral restrooms as of Sept. 1 is at alumni.unc.edu/bathroomsmap. The “limited access” restrooms are located where public access is limited, primarily residence halls.

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