{"id":1929,"date":"2012-07-23T17:51:25","date_gmt":"2012-07-23T21:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com\/blog\/?p=1929"},"modified":"2025-03-21T07:47:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T11:47:50","slug":"gender-neutral-bathroom-signs-spark-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/gender-neutral-bathroom-signs-spark-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Gender-Neutral Bathroom Signs Spark Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1933\" title=\"Gender-neutral bathroom sign\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Gender-neutral-bathroom-sign.jpg\" alt=\"Male\/female\/transgender bathroom sign\" width=\"311\" height=\"307\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Gender-neutral-bathroom-sign.jpg 311w, https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Gender-neutral-bathroom-sign-300x296.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 311px) 100vw, 311px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\"><em>A new breed of gender-neutral bathroom signage includes a new symbol, meant to represent transgendered persons (via <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/best-of\/\"><em>thestar.com<\/em><\/a><em>)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>July 23, 2012 &#8212; While gender-neutral bathrooms are not a fresh idea, particularly in the case of single-use restrooms, one Nova Scotia health services provider\u2019s use of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/best-of\/\">new gender-neutral symbol<\/a> has garnered a great deal of attention and controversy. The sign has three symbols, one of a man, one of a woman, and then one that is a combination of the man and woman symbols. The signage was commissioned by transgender activists pushing for gender-neutral restrooms during a community consultation in April of this year.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>While some argue that the transgender symbol is a step forward in the scope of affirmation of transgendered persons, others feel that adding this new gender does nothing to detract from gender disparity. \u00a0As opposed to being gender-neutral, they argue, the bathroom signage creates a third gender.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1931\" title=\"Male\/Female Bathroom Sign\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/funny-unisex-bathroom-sign-se-2028_210.gif\" alt=\"Funny sign from JustBathroomSigns.com\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\"><em>Another take on the traditional gender-neutral bathroom signage, with the figures of a man and a woman separated by a vertical line (via <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mydoorsign.com\/restroom-signs\"><em>MyDoorSign.com<\/em><\/a><em>)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>More common gender-neutral signage involves the symbol of a man and a woman with a vertical line in between them, which many claim gets the message across without the addition of a transgendered representative symbol. The new symbol, while meant to be welcoming to transgendered patrons, seemingly creates more distinctions. McGill University has employed this new series of trans-friendly signage for gender-neutral bathrooms, leaving many unsure of the universalization of this new graphic language.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the symbol itself, the movement towards recognizing transgendered individuals has generally received a positive response. Gender-neutral bathrooms are becoming common across US and Canadian college campuses. However, this new symbol may not be the trademark of that shift in social recognition and cognizance.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; S. Walsh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new breed of gender-neutral bathroom signage includes a new symbol, meant to represent transgendered persons (via thestar.com) July 23, 2012 &#8212; While gender-neutral bathrooms are not a fresh idea, particularly in the case of single-use restrooms, one Nova Scotia health services provider\u2019s use of a new gender-neutral symbol has garnered a great deal of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[307],"class_list":["post-1929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-remzem"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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