In its effort toward greater gender inclusivity, Cleveland State in August opened the campus’s first multi-user gender-neutral restroom.

Located on the fourth floor of Berkman Hall, the new restroom features 14 stalls with floor-to-ceiling stall doors to ensure maximum privacy.

“I had no idea CSU installed a gender-neutral bathroom until just last week,” Stella Caulfeld, a junior political science major, said. “I think it’s a great step, but they should’ve made a bigger deal of it.”

Members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community often promote the construction of gender-neutral restrooms because transgender individuals feel more comfortable using them than sex-segregated restrooms.

“I have a trans* friend who is not comfortable using sex-segregated bathrooms for either males or females, so [the new restroom] is great for her,” Hayden Storton, a sophomore urban studies major, said.

While the university provides several gender-neutral single-user restrooms across campus, this is the university's first gender-neutral multi-user restroom, a facility still rare at U.S. colleges. In addition to its 14 stalls, CSU's new restroom features a lactation room, a separate sink area, and a modern design.

“​​Gendered multi-stall bathrooms can be dangerous spaces for trans* people, and single stall family restrooms can reinforce the “othering” of trans* folks when it’s the only safe option available for them,” said Kara Tellaisha, LGBTQ+ Student Services coordinator at CSU.