Definitions

Definitions for the All-Gender Restroom Initiative

ADA: if a restroom is labeled as "ADA" in its description on the map or chart, it means this restroom meets the Americans with Disability Act regulations and design standards for accessibility.

All-Gender:  All-Gender refers to all of the possible gender identities including but not limited to male, female, transgender, and those that fall outside the binary. 

Multi-Stall:  A restroom with multiple stalls of toilets and/or urinals. 

Single-Occupancy Restrooms:  A more private restroom with room for only a singular person to use the restroom at a time.  

Transgender: an umbrella term for anyone whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth

Non-Binary: A term describing a person who does not identify exclusively within the gender binary as man or woman.  Non-binary people may identify as both a man and a woman, as neither man nor woman, or somewhere in between.  Some also identify as transgender, but not all non-binary people do.  

Gender Identity: One’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both, or neither. This is how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves.  

Fluid in their Gender Identity:  Someone who is fluid in their gender identity is an individual who doesn’t identify with a single fixed gender.  

Gender expression:  An individual’s external appearance of their gender identity.  This is usually expressed through their behavior, clothing, haircut, and/or voice.  It may or may not conform to the culturally or socially defined behaviors and characters associated with being masculine or feminine. 

Gendered Restroom:  Restrooms that are specifically labeled for male identities or female identities. 

“Outs”/”Outing”:  The intentional or unintentional exposure of someone’s sexual or gender identity to others with or, specifically, without the permission of the individual.  With this there may be repercussions or a worry of repercussions on employment, economic stability, personal safety, or religious/family situations. 

Cisgender:  A term used to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with their assigned sex at birth.