I was in a Subway the other day and for the first time I saw this on the door. When I was a kid growing up in the 1980’s this wasn’t fathomable. Starbucks has already doing this and now it’s becoming more prevalent. Whichever side of the gender identity debate you fall on, this seems like the best (if not imperfect) solution for many businesses who must offer public accommodation (restaurants, retail establishments, hotels etc.).

For the last year or two retail businesses who rely on foot traffic have found themselves caught up in a very uncomfortable political conundrum between their conservative patrons who are solidly in the traditional “use the restroom that fits your biology” camp and their liberal patrons who believe that people should be able to use the restroom for the gender they identify with regardless of biology. So I had actually predicted that these gender neutral bathrooms would pop up. It’s easy for a small retail outlet to call their bathrooms “gender neutral” when they offer bathrooms with a single toilet but will businesses that have larger bathrooms with multiple stalls move to this model? One already has (Target) but it remains a thorny issue in which it seems they can make nobody happy and the more politically active camps on both sides will use a decision they disagree with to beat said retailer upside the head. Hopefully smarter people than I can come up with a solution that everyone will be happy with but I’m not holding my breath.

Get your popcorn ready!