Some P.E.I. businesses switching to gender-neutral bathrooms

More P.E.I. businesses are making the switch to gender-neutral bathrooms, says a local Pride group.

Those are facilities that aren't labelled as either male or female.

Tyler Murnaghan, chair of the board of directors of Pride PEI, feels gender-neutral bathrooms tend to be more inclusive. For local businesses, he said, it's a small change that makes a big statement.

"It's providing more of a safe space, allowing people to not have to choose a gender," said Murnaghan.

"A lot of people in our community don't like to define with a single gender."

Terms such as gender queer and transgender don't fit into your typical male/female choice of bathroom, he said.

"It definitely gets rid of the choice or the difficult choice that someone would have to make, and then maybe the embarrassing situation that would happen after that decision," said Murnaghan.

Pushing for bathroom changes

Pride PEI has been pushing for more gender-neutral bathrooms for the past few years, said Murnaghan.

But he admitted it's easier for smaller businesses to make the move to gender-neutral, because their bathrooms often have single stalls.

He said it's more challenging and less common to see gender-neutral bathrooms with multiple stalls.

Receiver Coffee Co. in Charlottetown is one of the businesses that has switched over their bathrooms, something front-of-house manager Joel Fitzpatrick said customers have noticed.

"They really appreciate the change. It's just something they don't have to think about," he said.

"They can just come in and use the bathroom, like you should be able to."

Customer Sarah Chace was pleased with the switch.

"It's fantastic, I mean anything the community can do to be more inclusive towards people of all genders is always a good step forward," said Chace.

At Charlottetown restaurant Terre Rouge, server Ryan Rioux was one of the employees who initiated the change.

"It's more than just a bathroom thing, I think," said Rioux.

"Whenever you do something like that, it just says you're supported to come and be a part of our clientele."

City responds

Murnaghan wrote to the City of Charlottetown saying he'd like to see more city facilities with gender-neutral bathrooms.

In an emailed response to CBC, the city said it had made a start on that.

"There is a gender-neutral public washroom at City Hall where we are able to accommodate individuals regardless of gender or whether or not they identify with a particular gender," read the statement.

"We also have family washrooms in some City facilities. At the Bell Aliant Centre, for example, there is a family change room as well as gender neutral washroom."

The city also acknowledged that is just a start.

"As other opportunities arise, we will cost out all options for public washrooms going forward," the statement continued.

"For example, this is something we could have the multi-use facility taskforce look into if they recommend building a new multi-use facility."

The city said it will also be a consideration during renovations of public buildings in the future.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | P.E.I. waiting on national framework for assisted dying
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | Holland College making room for Collège Acadie