Restrooms Accommodating Transgender Community Coming to La Verne
The University of La Verne converted signs for three of its College of Law single-stall restrooms April 7 to be designated gender neutral, part of an initiative that will also include the conversion of 29 restrooms at the university’s main campus.
This step makes the La Verne College of Law in Ontario one of the first law schools in Southern California to provide restroom facilities that accommodate the transgender community. La Verne Professor of Law Diane Klein, who teaches legal issues relating to gender and discrimination, said it is a change she and others at the university have sought for years.
“In order for our institution to be a welcoming, supportive environment for transgender and gender-nonconforming students – a larger and larger fraction of the student population – this issue is absolutely essential,” Klein said.
The College of Law’s addition of gender-neutral restrooms came the same week the law school held its annual La Verne Law Review Symposium, which included an appearance by transgender activist Nikki Araguz Loyd. Loyd and other speakers addressed issues of gender in the criminal justice and prison systems for a morning panel discussion April 8.
For many members of the transgender community, restrooms without a neutral designation can be a place of fear and anxiety, according to the Transgender Law Center.
Vice President for Facilities and Technology Clive Houston-Brown said he was pleased to see the efforts of Klein and Assistant Vice President for Capital Planning & Facilities Dr. Raymond “Chip” West come to fruition.
“They have been passionate advocates and the driving force behind making this a reality and helping to demonstrate the University of La Verne’s commitment to its core value of diversity and inclusivity,” Houston-Brown said.
Major U.S. cities such as San Francisco, Washington, DC, West Hollywood and Austin, Texas have laws mandating gender-neutral signs on single-person restrooms, and dozens of colleges and universities across the country also have gender neutral bathrooms. Officials announced the first week of April an all-gender bathroom had been added to the White House.
Plans to put gender-neutral signs on restrooms at University of La Verne’s main campus are underway and installation is expected in several weeks.
