We recently reported that gender neutral bathrooms are coming soon to a college near you.

Here you go, Texas. Carol Christian of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Student group pushes for transgender bathrooms at University of Houston-Downtown

When a transgender person is still in the transition process, using a public restroom can be uncomfortable or even unsafe, depending upon the mindset of others.

At the University of Houston-Downtown, a student leader says that potential for discomfort could ease if administrators accept a proposal about to be embraced by the Student Government Association.

That proposal calls for the university to select two existing restrooms in each main building and designate them as “gender-neutral,” meaning they would be open to anyone, said Kristopher Sharp, Student Government Association vice president.

Meanwhile, university administrators say they have been working quietly for months to address the issue by building new, single-room restrooms that can be locked, similar to “family” restrooms in airports.

The first such private restroom is scheduled to open at the end of February in an area that is still under construction on the north end of campus, said John Hudson, director of the university’s new Center for Student Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

“Others we hope would come on line later in the year,” Hudson said. The administration’s plan calls for a total of five private restrooms – one in each main building, one near the auditorium and one at the sports center, he said.

The student proposal, which is scheduled for a vote Jan. 10, has the advantage of being cheaper and quicker, since it requires only a new sign (and possibly instructions) on the door, Sharp said.

The proposal has the backing of all seven senators, said Sharp, who put forward the idea but is not eligible to vote for it because he’s an officer.

“It is very rare that we all come together,” he said.

Converting one men’s restroom and one women’s restroom in each of three buildings would make a total of six gender-neutral facilities out of more than 60 restrooms on campus, Sharp said.


 
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