All washrooms at Canadian Museum for Human Rights now gender neutral

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg is making all its washrooms gender inclusive.

Washrooms will list the amenities available in each space instead of using “men’s” or “women’s” designations.

All signage is expected to be updated by the end of this week.

“This approach will allow people to make choices based on their needs and not force them to comply with a binary system of gender to which they may not subscribe,” said Haran Vijayanathan, the museum’s director of equity and growth.

In a release, the museum says gendered washrooms can be unsafe for transgender people due to harassment and violence.

“People are entitled to use a washroom in peace,” said Vijayanathan. “Taking a gender-inclusive approach for all our washrooms, not just designating one or two as gender-inclusive, is a way to create safer spaces as well as a culture that accepts and celebrates people of all genders.”

The museum says the change is also an important shift for parents and caregivers, who can now go into any washroom to provide support.

—With files from The Canadian Press