“Town Hall Meeting” on Gender Neutral Bathrooms at HUUF

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Date/Time
Date(s) - 05/24/2024
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm


Town Hall Meeting

On Friday, May 24, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m., in person and on Zoom, HUUF members and friends will have an opportunity to listen and speak about the possibility of altering our bathroom signage so that people of any gender have a welcoming bathroom in our main building. The Town Hall will start with a screening of Toilet Training, a 30-minute documentary recommended by the UUA that “addresses the persistent discrimination, harassment, and violence that people who transgress gender norms face in gender segregated bathrooms. Using stories of people who have been harassed, arrested or beaten for trying to use bathrooms, Toilet Training focuses on bathroom access in public space, in schools, and at work.”

Currently we have one restroom that has always been a de facto gender-neutral space-the one in the CARE Building, which is a single stall and has a lockable door. People attending events in the main building who don’t identify as either male or female have to go outside and brave the winter wind, rain, and cold to use a restroom where they can feel comfortable. There can also be mobility issues with the added distance. The two restrooms in the main building are currently labeled “Men” and “Women.”

Following the discussion at our Annual Meeting on March 24, and after looking into how this issue is handled elsewhere, the HUUF Board crafted a proposal to leave the women’s room labeled as is, adding a sign advising people that it contains a changing table; change the men’s room into an all-gender restroom with a sign indicating there is urinal inside; and add a sign to the CARE Building restroom indicating there’s a changing table inside (it’s already labeled “All-Gender”). The Board is looking for feedback on this proposal.

The UUA urges all groups who support gender equity to offer gender neutral bathrooms. Quoting from their website: “Who Benefits from Gender Neutral Bathrooms?”

  • People who are uncomfortable in men’s or women’s rooms for many reasons; for example, people who are not women or men and/or people who are gender nonconforming.
  • Parents/caregivers whose children are a different gender from them.
  • People with caregivers or personal attendants who are a different gender from them.

Please come to the Town Hall and let the Board know what you think about this issue. If there’s a coalescing around a proposal as a result of the Town Hall, the Board will bring it up at the Congregational Meeting on June 2 and, after further discussion, possibly ask for consensus. (See the HUUF statement on consensus here.)

Margy Emerson, Co-President, Board of Trustees