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Utah bill requires bathrooms in new wellness building to be gendered

Architects and planners of the L.S. Skaggs Integrated Wellness Center initially designed the building’s first-floor bathrooms to be gender-neutral. A bill passed by the Utah Senate prevented that from happening, forcing architects and planners to change their plans for the bathrooms.

HB0257, passed by the senate on Jan. 1, 2024, establishes “a legal standard for distinctions on the basis of sex in certain publicly owned or controlled circumstances; establishes acceptable and prohibited distinctions on the basis of sex; enacts provisions regarding sex-designated restroom, shower, or locker room facilities that students use within the public education system.” 

This means that “HB0257 applies to public schools and government-owned or controlled facilities” and “assigns sex-based designations to a person based on HB 257’s definitions of the term female, male, and intersex” according to ACLU Utah. 

The ACLU’s legal analysis of the bill said it’s “more limited” than news coverage would suggest, and that it’s a law intended to restrict transgender and non-binary people. The bill would not only affect bathrooms, but changing rooms, prison and jail housing, and access to women’s shelters, according to ACLU Utah

“We were so excited about the design,” said Laura Iverson, assistant director of fitness, wellness and recreation. “The original plans the architects created for the Integrated Wellness Center did have gender-neutral bathrooms”

Women's bathroom and men's bathroom's door stand side by side.
On the first floor of L.S. Skaggs Integrated Wellness Center, the two bathrooms that were originally designed to be gender-neutral, are now gendered. The now-gendered bathrooms represent HB0257 passed by the Senate in January 2024. Photo courtesy of Kyra Cortez

The plan for the first-floor restrooms was to have several individual toilet stalls with full-length doors and a general hand-washing area, according to Iverson. 

“All of us on the steering committee were disappointed,” Iverson said. “We thought the design the architects came up with made a lot of sense and was a good use of space, too. It was disappointing.”

Dr. Glenn Smith, vice president of student affairs and athletics, and lead on the overall project, was the first to hear from the Salt Lake City planning office. 

“[Initially, the message] was delivered as a city policy,” Smith said. “We [verbally] appealed the decision, but the planner did not allow it.” 

Man wearing a suit showing a group of people behind him through a hallway.
Daniel Lewis, vice president of institutional advancement, showed guests around the second floor where the single-use-family-style bathrooms are located on Sept 14. Photo by Melissa Majchrzak

Smith explained that the appeal of gender-neutral bathrooms was not only about their function but about the message they send. 

“I was frustrated as we saw the ability to have non-gendered bathrooms as a way that we could express our sense of inclusion at Westminster,” Smith said.

Moving forward, there is no future for transitioning the first-floor bathrooms into gender-inclusive spaces. 

“That would [require] renovations, and you don’t want to renovate a new building,” said Traci Siripathane, assistant dean of students and director of fitness, wellness, and recreation.

The L.S. Skaggs Integrated Wellness Center does have gender-neutral bathrooms that are single-use family style, though they are not for multiple people at once. They are located on the second floor, outside of the counseling center, according to Siripathane.

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Kyra Cortez is a junior who enjoys going to concerts and on walks and runs.

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