Gender Inclusive Facilities

At the New School, all students, staff, and faculty are free to use facilities that align with their gender identity.

Gender Inclusive Housing

Gender inclusive housing is a housing option at The New School that enables two or more students to share a multiple-occupancy bedroom or suite by mutual agreement, regardless of gender. Gender inclusive housing aligns with the university's nondiscrimination policy and represents a full commitment to the principles of social justice with respect to sexual orientation, gender, and gender identity. Gender inclusive housing provides housing options for students who identify as transgender, are questioning their gender identity, or do not subscribe to gender classifications.

All-Gender Bathrooms

The New School affirms the right of everyone to have safe access to the bathrooms of their choice on campus.

There are many all-gender bathrooms on campus. Some are single-user and lockable; some are multi-occupant with stalls. The All-Gender Restroom Map indicates where all of these facilities are located. The map also indicates whether there are stalls and urinals present.

All-gender facilities like these are available to benefit everyone:

• Trans individuals who otherwise might experience harassment, or even violence, can use a bathroom safely and in peace.
• Women no longer have to wait in line when the women's room is full and the men's room is empty.
• People who are physically disabled and who have attendants of a different gender don't face the awkwardness of gender-segregated bathrooms.

New York City Laws Related to Use of Restrooms

Included in the city's Human Rights Law is a prohibition of discrimination against individuals based on gender. The scope of this gender-based protection, however, requires clarification. This local law is intended to make clear that all gender-based discrimination—including, but not limited to, discrimination based on an individual's actual or perceived sex and discrimination based on an individual's gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior, or expression—constitutes a violation of the city's Human Rights Law.

The Human Rights Law defines gender as "actual or perceived sex and shall also include a person's gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior or expression, whether or not that gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior or expression is different from that traditionally associated with the legal sex assigned to that person at birth."

Nothing in the Human Rights Law prohibits restrooms from being designated by gender. Discriminatory conduct related to gender identity may have occurred in facilities restricted on the basis of sex when:

• Individuals are not allowed to use a restroom or other sex-segregated facility consistent with their gender identity or gender expression.
• Individuals are required to provide identification as a means of identifying their gender before allowing them to use a restroom or other sex-segregated facility.

If there is a space on campus you believe needs one or more all-gender restrooms to be added, or if there is an all-gender restroom that could be added to our map, please email the information to robint@newschool.edu.