FEATURED
Defending Education alleges the public university ‘is violating Title IX by refusing to give its female students access to single-sex intimate spaces’
SEATTLE — The University of Washington recently removed a page from its website about “all-gender” restrooms in its Health Sciences Education Building after a conservative watchdog group filed a federal complaint alleging civil rights violations against women.
“The University of Washington’s removal of identifiable information on its all-gender bathroom policy after our civil rights complaint alleging violation of Title IX on just that basis raises more than a little suspicion,” Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and senior legal fellow at Defending Education, told The College Fix on Friday.
“Based on the Department of Education’s swift and thorough civil rights investigations, it would appear the University is doing everything it can to fly below the radar,” Perry said in a statement via email.
The complaint, which Defending Education filed with the U.S. Department of Education on April 30, mentions the webpage as part of larger allegations that the public university “is violating Title IX by refusing to give its female students access to single-sex intimate spaces.”
Defending Education accessed the “all-gender” restrooms webpage on April 15, but The Fix noticed Friday that the page had been removed.
Originally, the page, a screenshot of which is included in the complaint, stated that “[a]ll restrooms in the Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB) are all-gender.”
“This presumably forces female UW students who attend class in the building to share bathrooms with male students, employees, and even guests,” according to the complaint.
The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday from The Fix, asking about the page being removed.
Earlier, in response to a request for comment about the complaint itself, university spokesman Victor Balta told The College Fix that the public institution is following the law.
“The UW is committed to following federal law and will respond through appropriate channels if we are contacted by the DOE,” Balta said.
Another page on the university website is still live, and it includes a list of “gender neutral restrooms” and a map of their locations across the Seattle campus. The page is part of the Q Center, the university’s resource center for the LGBTQIA community.
The Fix recently visited Parrington Hall, a building renovated in 2020 to include all-gender restrooms.
The restroom stalls extend closer to the floor and ceiling than traditional stalls, leaving smaller gaps between the doors and partitions. On the third floor, the restroom entrance narrows into a smaller area with two sinks, requiring close proximity between users while washing their hands.
Meanwhile, students on campus voiced mixed opinions about the all-gender restrooms in interviews with The Fix over the past week.
Noah Dierks, a first-year student, didn’t have an issue with them as long as they are enclosed.
“But if it is a standard restroom with more or less open stalls and urinals that are open, no, they shouldn’t be gender neutral,” Dierks told The Fix.
Another student, Emma Breeze told The Fix that trans students “don’t have the right to make people feel uncomfortable based on what they believe.”
“… you are creating a hazard for women because women need their own spaces. And I rarely see it the other way around; it’s always men trying to get into women’s restrooms,” Breeze, a senior, said.
“The fact that they push so hard for it, you can have your own opinion and your own truth, but the fact that you are trying to force it on everyone else makes it suspicious. Why are you trying so hard if there isn’t a reason?” she told The Fix.
Breeze said restrooms are a vulnerable space where safety is especially important for young women.
“I don’t want the risk of a guy who’s dressed up like a girl, who may or may not be aggressive, coming into the restroom. Even if there are cases where they are not aggressive, you are opening up the door for that chance, which is an issue,” Breeze said.
Liam, a senior, who asked that only his first name be used, shared a different view with The Fix.
“Gender-neutral restrooms answer prevalent concerns from transgender and gender diverse students, who [very often] report verbal harassment and occasionally physical abuse when using gender-segregated restrooms,” he said.
“The bottom line is that, to the extent that unisex facilities, restrooms among them, reduce the ostracization, harassment, and abuse to which TGD [trans and gender diverse] students are exposed when using gender-segregated facilities, they have a tangible, positive impact on the mental health outcomes of TGD students,” he said.
There’s a disproportionate risk for gender diverse individuals of sexual assault correlated with general restrooms, Liam told The Fix. He also cited several scholarly articles, including “Students’ Perceptions of All-Gender Restrooms After Implementation,” which argues that all-gender restrooms can positively support gender-diverse students.
A university 2025 Climate Survey of students and employees also contains comments supporting “all-gender” restrooms, including one expressing concern that there were no gender neutral restrooms in any buildings they taught in.
Editor’s note: Assistant editor Micaiah Bilger contributed to this report.
MORE: Education Department probes ‘all-women’ Smith College for admitting trans students
