Inside Corporate America, transgender bathroom use is already settled
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Congress is embroiled in what's essentially a workplace fight over bathrooms that is pretty outside the norm in the private sector.
Why it matters: Most private companies have made efforts over the past decade or so to foster an inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ employees — that means adults can use the bathroom they feel most comfortable using.
Catch up fast: The Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives is banning transgender individuals from using bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity.
- The move follows an effort by GOP lawmakers to restrict incoming Representative Sarah McBride (D-Del.), set to be the first transgender member of Congress, from using women's restrooms.
The big picture: Though backlash over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts has recently intensified, and companies have pulled back on their efforts, bathroom use isn't a controversial issue in Corporate America, says Joelle Emerson, the founder of Paradigm, a diversity consulting company.
Zoom in: "Most companies addressed this years ago. Gender neutral restrooms are a norm now, and in most companies, people use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender," Emerson says.
- She says her firm has worked with thousands of companies over the last decade, and she can't think of one that had an internal issue over the bathroom.
- Beyond just letting folks use the bathroom of their choice, 63% of companies in the Human Rights Campaign corporate equality index have listed workplace policies such as trans-inclusive restrooms and gender neutral dress codes for employees, per HRC's most recent report.
- Back in 2016 many companies pushed back aggressively and successfully against North Carolina's "bathroom bill," which would have restricted restroom access.
Reality check: Of course, the workplace is no utopia, nor is it free of discrimination for transgender workers.
- The backlash against DEI and transgender rights recently pushed some companies into silence and raised fears over a pullback in support. And the anti-trans sentiment only seems to be intensifying post-election.
- More recently, the business community has stayed quiet in response to a flurry of anti-trans legislation, as Axios reported last year.
Another problem on the horizon: Transgender employees who need to travel for work may need to use airports — government owned — that have anti-trans restrictions on restrooms. It's already an issue in Utah and a few other places with such laws on the books.
The bottom line: "There are real barriers to creating workplace cultures that work for everyone," Emerson says. The bathroom "just isn't one of them."
Go deeper: Mike Johnson institutes transgender bathroom ban for U.S. House
