Moscow City Council expressed an interest in beginning to implement gender neutral bathrooms in various city-owned restrooms.
The inspiration for the preliminary plans comes from a growing number of neighboring Pacific Northwest and Idaho cities which have started making the switch. City staff and the Moscow Human Rights Commission conducted research of nearby areas and analyzed existing Moscow restrooms to determine viability.
Boise, Idaho Falls, Meridian, Nampa, Lewiston, Pocatello, Spokane and Pullman have already implemented gender neutral or family bathrooms. Another studied area, Caldwell, had no implementation of either.
The research, presented by Moscow’s Deputy City Supervisor Jen Pfiffner, indicates 49% of Moscow’s restrooms would only need a sign-change and added lock to become gender neutral. Other restrooms could require reconstruction or further analysis.
Pfiffner said 16% of Moscow’s restrooms are portable and already gender neutral by default, but 5% of restrooms, including those at Friendship Square, Mountain View Park and the Intermodal Transit Center, would need complete reconstruction or in-depth planning because they have multiple stalls and pose a safety risk.
Some Moscow restrooms could use a hybrid approach, like those in City Hall, where bathrooms on one floor could be gender neutral while those on another remain gender-specific, Pfiffner said.
Moscow City Councilor Maureen Laflin questioned the concept of making multi-stall restrooms gender neutral.
“I guess I always I have a question in my own mind about safety,” Laflin said. “Are people being beaten up or whether or not the consumer, the person using the bathroom, feels comfortable going into a multi-stall bathroom. I think there are questions that relate to that before we decide to convert those or create new ones, we have to have a good pulse on what the community and the users really feel about the multi-stall gender neutral bathrooms.”
Moscow City Council unanimously agreed to begin formulating plans to tackle implementation, but questioned where funding for large scale changes would come from. Mayor Bill Lambert said the issue would be processed when presented. He added that once implementation occurs, any prospective bathroom sites can be made gender neutral by default.
Moscow City Council also voted to amend the proposed ordinance for 5G Small Wireless Facilities on second reading. The amendment addresses linguistic changes and negates two proposed actions.
The council voted 4-3, with Lambert as the deciding vote. Moscow City Councilors Brandy Sullivan, Maureen Laflin and Anne Zabala voted against the amendment. The ordinance will be voted on following its third reading Nov. 16.
Carter Kolpitcke can be reached at [email protected].