Yale has filed a lawsuit against the state of Connecticut over a state building code which mandates “a certain number of bathrooms in every building be assigned by gender.” Unfortunately for the university, this includes single-user restrooms. Yale wants to designate its Law School restrooms as “gender neutral” as it has in some of its other buildings. According to a report in the New Haven Register, code forbids existing buildings from “reducing the number of gender designated bathrooms below the number required for new construction.” The Yale suit contends the school “cannot build additional bathrooms because of ‘programming and space constraints,'” and comments on the “negative impact” more restrooms would have on old edifices like the Sterling Law Building, built in the 1920s. -snip- The university said the code modification it was seeking had already been adopted by New York CIty, as well as Washington, D.C., Austin, Texas and San Francisco. It further argues in its suit, that its request is in accord with Connecticut Public Act 2011-55 which amended certain statutes “to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender identity.” Gender identity and the use of bathrooms has been a major issue in some states where persons are required to use the bathroom that matches the gender on their birth certificates. This is not the case in Connecticut. Yale added “it wanted to ameliorate any discomfort some students feel using a gender specific bathroom.” “A shift in labeling ‘would facilitate quick access to a bathroom within the building for persons of all gender identities, eliminate discomfort by trans and gender non-conforming law students in using gender specific rest rooms and promote the equal treatment of trans and gender non-conforming students.’” The College Fix
