Mayor Walsh unveils gender-neutral bathrooms at City Hall

For most people, finding the proper public restroom to use is not an issue. The male or female symbol on the sign directs them to the correct facility.

But such markings can be uncomfortable for genderqueer people when they don’t identify with the symbols posted by the doors.

This will no longer be a problem at Boston’s City Hall after Mayor Marty Walsh signed an executive order establishing two single-stall gender-neutral bathrooms on the fifth floor, outside the Mayor’s office and the City Council Chambers.

“Today marks a historic moment in Boston,” said Mayor Walsh. “Boston thrives on diversity, and is an inclusive city. This change will foster a safe and welcoming environment for employees and visitors, and will go a long way as we continue to work towards improving the lives of those who love and call Boston home.”

The signs posted outside of these rest facilities reads “these restrooms may be used by any person regardless of gender identity or expression.”

A study conducted by The Fenway Institute of Life Skills Project found that 65 percent of transgender people in the Bay State have experienced some form of discrimination in public restroom settings in 2013. A 2011 national survey found that 70 percent of transgender people have been verbally harassed, physically assaulted or were denied access to public restrooms due to their gender identity.

“This shows that City Hall is a welcoming place,” Walsh said. “We want everyone to feel welcomed and proud to say they are Bostonians.”

The White House established its first gender-neutral bathroom in April in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the West Wing. Colleges across the nation have also started implementing gender-neutral rest facilities as a means of accommodating all people who attend.

While championed as a bill for equality, it was met with a degree of controversy and opposition.

“Having a third option for people who suffer from Gender Identity Disorder is certainly preferable to the alternative that the Bathroom Bill brought on us,” Massachusetts Family Institute President Andrew Beckwith said.

“Having a separate space for them protects individual privacy and safety. It seems like this is common sense then to have people in restrooms that are inconsistent with their biological makeup.”

Walsh said this measure is the first of many in making Boston a more inclusive city toward all people on the wide span of the diversity spectrum. Boston is one of the first city halls in New England to establish a gender-neutral bathroom. Attorney General Maura Healey is planning a similar announcement in the near future.

“For all of us who are employers in Massachusetts, a real commitment to preventing discrimination starts in our own workplaces, and I hope employers across the state will join in these efforts to promote equal treatment for all,” Healey said in a press release.

“Mayor Walsh’s announcement today is an important step forward in the fight for equality, and I support his effort to accommodate transgender people.”

The issue of bathroom access took center stage when Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy introduced The Bathroom Bill, passed in 2011.

The bill grants transgender people access to all public bathrooms, locker rooms and all other sex-segregated facilities whether or not their appearance or behavior is similar to the traits that are traditionally associated with a person’s gender assignment at birth.