Five Years After Concept First Proffered, City Getting Gender Neutral Bathrooms

Single-occupant bathroom. Photo by Malcolm Lawson, (CC BY 2.0).

It will soon be easier to find a bathroom in a city-owned facility.

A proposal pending before the Milwaukee Common Council would strip gender designations from all single-occupancy bathrooms at city properties.

“This policy is a vital step forward in ensuring that all residents, workers and visitors to our great city feel welcome, safe and respected,” said Tony Snell Rodriguez, Equal Rights Commission (ERC) Chair and Visit Milwaukee director of community engagement and inclusion, to the Public Works Committee on Oct. 2. “Public restrooms are often an overlooked aspect of accessibility and inclusivity, but for many, they can present significant challenges.”

The restrooms will be designated as “inclusive.” According to an ERC report, more than 200 other cities have adopted similar policies.

Snell Rodriguez said those positively impacted stretched from transgender individuals to parents with children. Inclusive bathrooms would be designated in public-facing buildings such as Milwaukee Public Library branches as well as private city properties like Department of Public Works (DPW) field offices.

“By designating single-occupancy restrooms as inclusive we are sending a clear message that our city our city values the rights, safety, and dignity of every person,” said Snell Rodriguez.

DPW conducted a survey of city properties, including fire and police stations, to identify what bathrooms need to be resigned. “There’s a couple in every building,” said DPW Commissioner Jerrel Kruschke. “You’re looking at 50, 60 bathrooms that can be converted in this fashion.”

Sarah Wallisch, a city employee who represents the city’s LGBTQ+ workgroup The Hive, said she has discussed bathroom issues with employees who are going through a gender transition or are nonbinary. She said some have pursued employment elsewhere. “Because they don’t have a bathroom they feel safe and comfortable using in their work area,” she said.  Wallisch said there is a physical health cost when employees have to “hold it all day.”

The concept was first endorsed by the council in November 2019. But that vote didn’t result in immediate change and instead directed the Department of Administration and DPW to work together to “develop policies and procedures to create gender-inclusive restrooms and other facilities, such as locker rooms and changing rooms, in properties owned or operated by the City and to continue implementing gender-inclusive facilities in future properties owned or operated by the City.”

Now, it’s poised to actually happen. Newly-elected alderman Peter Burgelis is the lead council sponsor.

“It probably should have been done,” said Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs. “It is good to see it happening.”

There is one sticking point: the cost of a new sign.

“We had about $250 per sign,” said Kruschke.

“Gold-plated signs?” asked Alderman Robert Bauman.

“We need an outside entity to produce the signs because they are going to be braille as well,” said Kruschke. “I do not think they are going to be $250 per sign. That’s basically the purchase of the sign and the installation.” The city, said Kruschke, does not have a machine that can produce braille.

Kruschke said DPW would absorb the cost via its facilities budget, but would provide a future cost report to the council.

“I found similar signs that were referenced in the report on Amazon for $18,” said Burgelis.

DPW, said Kruschke, had only offered $250 as an estimate and would further evaluate the actual cost.

Alderwoman JoCasta Zamarripa, the other openly LGBTQ+ council member in addition to Burgelis, is the other lead sponsor. “Now is the time for real substantive policy around equality,” she said. Other council sponsors include Marina Dimitrijevic, Jonathan Brostoff, Bauman, Coggs and Larresa Taylor.

The full council is scheduled to consider the proposal on Oct. 15. The two members who voted against the 2019 proposal, Mark Borkowski and Robert Donovan, are no longer on the council.

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