OU survey aims to ensure everyone is comfortable with gender-neutral restroom signs

Ohio University is conducting a survey to ensure that all members of the community “feel safe and comfortable” with the signage for its gender-neutral restrooms.

Dr. Dianne Bouvier, Director of the Office for Equal Opportunity and Accessibility and chair of the 11-member “Restroom Committee,” shared the online survey in an email to students, faculty, and staff, a copy of which was provided to Campus Reform by a source that wishes to remain anonymous.

“As part of Ohio University’s commitment to inclusion and access for a diverse community, the Restroom Committee is seeking feedback regarding signage for single[-]user restrooms that are not gender[-]specific,” she writes, adding that the survey should take fewer than five minutes to complete, and that all responses are confidential.

“The goal of this project is to select a sign that is easily understood and enables all people to feel safe and comfortable in accessing public restrooms,” Bouvier explains.

Respondents are presented with three different signage options—“All Gender Restroom,” “Universal Restroom,” and “Single User Restroom”—and asked to evaluate their level of comfort in using a restroom with each sign, with five response options ranging from “poor” to “excellent.”

The final portion of the survey requests demographic information, including gender (no suggested responses are given), primary affiliation with the university (student, employee, community member, other), whether the respondent is a parent, and whether they “identify … as an individual with a disability.”

There are currently more than 30 “single user” restrooms on campus that are not gender-specific, according to the school’s LGBT Center, which is promoting the ultimate goal of ensuring that every building has at least one such facility.

Campus Reform reached out to Dr. Bouvier for comment, but had not received a response by press time.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @FrickePete