Northwestern opens gender-neutral, multi-stall bathroom

CHICAGO (AP) - Northwestern University officials say one of its institutes has become among the first in the Chicago area to open a gender-neutral, multi-stall bathroom on a college campus.

The Chicago Sun-Times (http://bit.ly/2tYx13S ) reports that it was opened recently at Northwestern's Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing. It's next to a single-stall gender-neutral bathroom and a multi-stall, female-only restroom.

The institute's associate director, Francesca Gaiba, says she hopes it's "an inspiration" to other schools and institutions. She argues that "society needs to move toward gender-neutral bathrooms," including to help "reduce harassment ... against the gender non-conforming community."

The Sun-Times reports that Northwestern joins around 150 colleges around the nation with gender-neutral, multi-stall bathrooms.

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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times, http://chicago.suntimes.com/