Law School Opens First Coed Multi-User Restroom, Announces LawProf John Banzhaf

Washiington, DC, January 29, 2016 --(PR.com)-- Featuring three urinals and one toilet, this restroom, formerly labeled for men only, now has a sign reading "ALL GENDER RESTROOM" in large gold letters as well as in braille, says Banzhaf. Unlike most unisex restrooms which - as on airplanes - have only one toilet, this one is clearly arranged so that four students can use it at the same time, he notes.

"Female students who don't mind sharing a restroom with men - as some frequently do at rock concerts, and even at some sporting events, when lines to the women's room get too long - now don't have to wait, or look around for the nearest female restroom," argues Banzhaf.

As noted on his website, Banzhaf has been dubbed "The Father of Potty Parity" for his efforts in reducing the long lines at women's restrooms.

More recently, Fox News reported that he pressured the U.S. House of Representatives to open a restroom for female House members adjacent to the chamber's floor so that the women would no longer have to miss votes to use distant public restrooms - as some have claimed has actually happened.

"It's also much better for anatomical men who dress and act as females since they no longer have to choose between derision or even beatings while trying to use a men's room, or engaging in what many female restroom users consider a serious invasion of their privacy,” says Banzhaf.

Similarly, anatomical females who appear to be men will not be forced to either utilize a restroom surrounded by men who may wonder why the toilet stall rather than the urinal is always used, nor to cause coeds using the women’s room to be startled or worse when they see a “man” entering, he argues.

Banzhaf points out that the restroom is not located in the basement or at some remote location, but rather in a highly-trafficked area of the law school complex. This means it is likely to be widely used rather than serving a largely symbolic function. It may also help to make the female users feel more secure, says Banzhaf, because the constant flow of people should discourage any inappropriate behavior.

Banzhaf says his female students have told him that their concerns about using coed restrooms are more about safety than about privacy. After all, he notes, many of them came from colleges where there were large unisex combination restrooms and showers for both male and female occupants on the dormitory floor.

Banzhaf points out that this is also the generation which grew up watching the Ally McBeal TV show which featured a law firm with a large unisex restroom, Sex in the City where professional women were shown as very comfortable with sexuality, and nudity and even hard-core pornography are readily available on the Internet.

These women are not shy shrinking violets, says Banzhaf, and it is doubtful that they will be embarrassed by seeing the backs of men standing at urinals, or of having the men see their legs and clothing in the gap under the toilet stall door.

Universities can sometime be accommodating and forward looking, says Banzhaf, noting that he had to threaten legal action to get GWU to ban smoking in faculty offices, and eventually throughout the entire campus, including outdoors.