For Immediate Release: September 25, 2020
Contact: Ciora Thomas, ciora.thomas@sisterspgh.org, 412-297-0548
(PITTSBURGH) -- SisTers PGH is proud to stand in earnest support of the Allegheny County Health Department’s consideration to overhaul plumbing regulations and update the code to allow for gender-inclusive restroom facilities.
Pittsburgh is a diverse city, and Allegheny is a diverse county, where people of all races and creeds and genders and identities reside, which is something to be celebrated. It is also something to be protected. Trans and gender-diverse people in Allegheny County and across the country face discrimination, hostility, and violence for no reason other than who they are and how they express themselves. And right now, the trans-exclusionary language of the health department’s code adds to that oppression by making it difficult to build trans and gender-neutral restrooms within the county.
It is imperative that marginalized people feel welcome in their workplaces, on college campuses, in hospitals, and in other public venues. And it is time to ensure that developers, institutions, organizations, and businesses that wish to provide gender-neutral toilet facilities can do just that.
Sections of the 403.1.1, 403.1.2 and 403.2 of the 2021 International Plumbing Code (IPC) offer a design option for restroom facilities for gender-diverse people, and we strongly encourage the Allegheny Board of Health to adopt these simple yet substantial measures in order to keep our diverse, proud slice of Pennsylvania a safe and inclusive place for all.
SisTers PGH is a Black and Trans-led 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that serves people of color, trans, and nonbinary people within Southwestern Pennsylvania. www.sisterspgh.org