UUCB’s expansion project includes new all-gender bathrooms rather than gender-segregated bathrooms. But before we even get into the why, first you should know what they are!

All-gender bathrooms have a shared area for sinks, but private stalls with floor-to-ceiling doors that close, lock, and give complete privacy. In other words, they don’t have the kind of barely-private stalls you might be used to in a public restroom – those doors with big gaps at the top and bottom and cracks around the side.

If you’ve visited Boulder Public Library, the CU Boulder Center for Community (pictured), the Rosetta Hall food hall, or Relish Food Hall in Louisville, you may have used an all-gender bathroom.

So: why all-gender bathrooms?

All-gender bathrooms level the playing field — a gender-diverse person doesn’t have to do a calculus of safety and belonging in choosing which bathroom they are safe to use without questioning looks or overt harassment. They’re not forced to choose a label that doesn’t work for them, and they don’t have to use a single-user restroom, which can be othering in itself. Research into safety shows no increase in violence or harassment for cisgender users in communal bathrooms, and at the same time an increase in safety for folks of diverse gender identities.”

All-gender bathrooms solve other problems too: parents who need to supervise their child of a different gender; lines for a women’s room while a men’s room is empty; helping out someone with mobility challenges.

This may be a new experience for some folks in the congregation who have never been in a communal bathroom, and that’s ok. Prioritizing welcome and belonging for all is worth having to adapt to new ways of living in community! And for folks who don’t want to share bathrooms with others for any reason, we’ll have two new, single-occupant bathrooms right across the hall, plus our two existing single-occupant restrooms.

We’re building a church home whose physical design embodies our values — including our values about who counts and who belongs. It’s a question of living our values — of literally putting our money where our values are. This congregation is not just for the people who are already here and already comfortable. We are also for the community who is not yet here, and whose genuine welcome and inclusion requires old ways to change. 

If you have questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be glad to be in conversation with you, whatever your thoughts might be.

With excitement for the expansion project,

Rev. David Schwartz
minister@uuchurchofboulder.org

p.s., Want to learn more? “More than just toilets: The Social and Practical Benefits of All-Gender Bathrooms“