A nice sign that is cheap or free.
THE DEGENDERATOR IS A TOILET SIGNAGE IMPROVEMENT CAMPAIGN TO HELP DE-GENDER ALL BATHROOMS, TO HELP ALL PEOPLE FEEL WELCOME AND SAFE.
THE DEGENDERATOR BATHROOM SIGN
Rectangular, unambiguous, legal— The perfect bathroom sign.
Legal for public use in all 50 US states, it is certified ADA Compliant with tactile lettering and braille.
Satisfies labelling requirements of cities and states with gender neutral mandates. (See map below)
Reversible for installations in both accessible and non-accessible restrooms.
Uses Sara Hendren’s better International Symbol of Access (ISA) as now required by New York and Connecticut (and allowed in the rest of the USA)
Made from black impact-resistant ABS plastic that will resist decades of cleaning.
Standard US door sign dimensions of 152mm/6”in wide and 222mm/8.75” tall, should fit perfectly over any old, boring sign.
Note that public-use restrooms in California will need an additional triangle within a circle in order to comply with California-only law.
Mountable with included high-strength mounting tape, silicone adhesive, or both for ease of installation. Simply mount with inaccurate side facing the wall!
REAL WORLD CONSEQUENCES OF GENDERED RESTROOMS
The Degenderator kits were designed primarily to be deployed in the United States, where toilet facilities have become a very politicized topic. Several states and municipalities have proposed laws that restrict, endanger, and humiliate trans people by preventing them from accessing toilet facilities that match their gender. All of these bills were overturned or repealed, thanks to tireless, ongoing activist efforts. Obviously, the transphobia that drives such restrictions remains pervasive.
Several US states and cities have mandated that all public single occupant restrooms be all gender facilities. California, New Mexico, Vermont, Illinois, Washington DC, New York City, Denver, Seattle, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Austin have laws now, and more laws are passing every month. Based on some rough math, 10 million+ bathrooms have been legally de-gendered in the past 5 years. Compliance with these laws is very low, this project strives to spread awareness to business owners that they are out of compliance, and make it easy for them to fix the issue.
The Degenderator is not the first bathroom sign subversion project, but I hope that the novelty of the kinetic element will bring attention to the issues and continue dialogues about why all-gender toilet facilities are better for everyone.
For this campaign, I plan to provide the signs free of charge and free of stipulations to anyone who requests them. Folks who sign up to receive free Degenderators are welcome to do with them as they wish. I personally only condone the sudden de-gendering of single-person toilets, as significant owner cooperation would be required to architecturally convert a multi-stall facility to a safe space for all.
Timeline of previous bathroom degendering campaigns:
In 2014 Sam Killermann drew a toilet and declared the toilet iconography debate over, having managed to clearly communicate what lies behind the doors of western restrooms.
Later in 2014, it took off and a manufacturer began producing the signs, offering them free of charge to qualifying organizations/campuses
In 2016, a Kickstarter campaign was launched to mass-produce similar signs to engage in degendering of public restrooms. While the Degenderator team admires their campaign, no affiliation or endorsement exists between the Degenderator and the Degenderettes, just very similar names.
2018, the Stalled! project combines critical design and critical theory where academics (Including architect Joel Sanders, law professor Terry Kogan, and trans historian/activist Susan Stryker) try to design the ideal restroom to suit the needs of as many people as possible.
In 2019 Stalled! members successfully amended the 2021 International Plumbing code, which will eventually allow multi-occupant inclusive restrooms to be built without complex variance procedures all over the USA.
Questions?
Contact degenderator@robb.cc to get more information on the project