Page 135 - May 2018 - December 2018 Issue

Trends on

Gender-Neutral

Restrooms

By Rachelle Lee, Human Resources
and Administration

According to Jacob Tobia from Time (2017),
“Implementing gender-neutral, sufficiently private
restrooms… is the only way that we will ever attain true
gender equality in our communities. The benefits of
gender-neutral restrooms run deeper than simply
providing life-affirming safety for trans people.
Gender-neutral restrooms have the potential to
fundamentally transform the way that we think about
gender equality.”

As early as 2014, the Quezon City Council has taken a
step to address this issue. It has approved a city
ordinance banning discrimination and harassment
against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
individuals. One of its provision is to make
gender-neutral restrooms available in the city, instead of
having separate restrooms for females and males. Any
person who won’t follow the ordinance will face jail time
for two months to one year and pay a fine of Php1,000 to
Php5,000.

In 2016, as part of its initiative to promote gender
sensitivity in the academe, the Ateneo de Davao
University has designated single comform rooms in its
main campus as toilets for all genders. More schools are
following suit, last March 2017, the Lyceum of the
Philippines University (LPU), Manila celebrated diversity
when it approved the first ever All-Gender Neutral
restrooms. The petition was made by one of the
organization in the campus which is the LPU Kasarian Gender-neutral restrooms are one method to
and lead by its founding President Dencio Arcadio. As assure LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
mentioned on his facebook post, it is a “one big step for questioning, queer) employees they are welcome
a more open-minded and more embracive LPU”. The and equal in the workplace. Gender-neutral
following year, St. Louis University — a Catholic restrooms are restrooms anyone can use and
university in Baguio — opened its first gender-neutral should serve as a safe place for all employees.
restroom in an explicit effort to be accepting of a diverse
student body. Likewise, Ateneo de Manila installed Source:
all-gender restrooms across its campus. These new
restrooms are part of Ateneo’s “effort to create an http://time.com/4702962/gender-neutral-bathrooms/
environment of inclusivity.” http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/382754/q
c-passes-ordinance-providing-for-gender-neutral-toilets/st
ory/
Taking a more resent spotlight is Resort’s World Manila https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/813900/ateneo-de-davao-desi
where a netizen posted photo of Resort’s World Manila’s gnates-all-gender-restrooms#ixzz5Tn9L9mNN
restroom. Recently, on Twitter, a netizen behind the user
handle ‘Clar Nombres’ posted a photo of the restroom in
Resorts World Manila. According to her, the hotel is
“doing it right”.

FOODTRIP | 134