Pitt introduces gender neutral bathroom policies

Pitt now allows for students and staff to use whichever bathroom best lines up with their gender identity, a move that comes directly after the announcement of their new gender-neutral housing option for this fall. This also follows a year that saw the introduction of a “preferred name option” for students to change their university-recognized name online.

Pitt has not always been accepting of queer individuals, as this also follows the settlement of a lawsuit between the university and a former Pitt Johnstown student, Seamus Johnston. Johnston sued the university after being expelled for using locker room facilities that matched his preferred gender identity, but not his birth certificate.

Example of common language for gender-neutral restrooms.

This also comes roughly a month after Pitt hosted conversative “free-speech” activist Milo Yiannopoulos, who caused a stir for his critique of safe-spaces on campus. Protestors interrupted the event, but faced major backlash during and after the event.

This progressive announcement from Pitt is in direct opposition of more conservative universities working hard to prevent gender-inclusive restroom and housing policies on campus. Biola University requested an exemption, and in their letter to the Title IX “in employment and in student life, we regard sex at birth as the identification of the given biological sex of each member of our constituency. We will not accept as valid alterations of one’s sex at birth based on experiential variation or medical intervention.”

Pitt is once again on the forefront of progressive policies, and will be noted in history as such.