Policy Statement: In alignment with the State University of New York resolution (Creation of 8 NYCRR Part 317: Gender Neutral Bathrooms), the Finger Lakes Community College Gender Neutral Bathroom Policy designates all public single. Single-occupant, gender-neutral restroom facilities. These one-room facilities are equipped with a sink, toilet and optional urinal, and typically exist in the form of family access bathrooms and bathrooms accessible to people with disabilities and are also available on airplanes, buses and at public events.
You perceive the controversy because gender-neutral bathrooms challenge bathroom policy and social norms: who gets access, how privacy's protected, and who feels safe. The policies shown in this map prohibit transgender people from using bathrooms and facilities-such as locker rooms, shower rooms, changing rooms, and other sex-segregated spaces-according to their gender identity. Some of these policies apply to K-12 school settings, while others apply more broadly to government.
President Trump has made access to public restrooms and other gendered facilities an early focal point of his administration. For example, on January 20, 2025, the president issued an executive order entitled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," which defines sex as only male and female, determined "at conception. A gender-neutral or all-gender restroom is a facility that anyone can use, regardless of gender identity.
While these restrooms are becoming more common, the legal framework governing them is a patchwork of federal, state, and local rules. These observations can be used to reframe the gender-neutral bathrooms debate so that they appeal to a larger constituency, cutting across the usual dividing lines in the 'bathroom wars'. Finally, there are improved designs and behavioural strategies that can help overcome resistance.
Understanding Gender Identity In many workplaces, separate restroom and other facilities are provided for men and women. In some cases, questions can arise in the workplace about which facilities certain employees should use. According to the Williams Institute at the University of California-Los Angeles, an estimated 700,000 adults in the United States are transgender.
What does trans inclusion look like? Trans-inclusive policies allow all people-including transgender people-to use the bathroom that best matches their gender identity. Trans-inclusive policies do allow for men's and women's rooms, and recommend but do not require gender.
