LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group

Hi everyone,

I wanted to highlight a recent article in Oculus about the work that AIA NY's LGBTQIA+ Alliance has been partnering on with Build Out Alliance NY and AIA NY's Governmental Affairs.  In NY State and NYC, our plumbing code is not caught up to speed on the revisions that were made to the IBC for All-Gender Restrooms.  Our Chapter has been working over the past year with several volunteers to amend this plumbing code to permit this "as-of-right" versus costly variances which may not be approved.  It is currently at the State Assembly, and our hope is that movement will continue this year on having the bill passed and our code language amended.  If you would like to read a bit of the work that has been underway, please feel free to read the article here: A Stall for One, A Stall for All - AIA New York

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A Stall for One, A Stall for All - AIA New York Oculus talks with members of the team behind the bill to establish design standards for all-gender bathrooms in New York. A visit to nysenate.gov reveals a brief summary of A6964/S7131 from the 2025-2026 legislative session. View this on AIA New York >

I personally would like to thank all of those that have been involved by committing their time and energy to this important issue.  If anyone from other chapters are interested in pursuing the same change to the plumbing code within their local city or state, please feel free to reach out to us for some guidance on next steps.

I hope everyone's summer is going well, and looking forward to connecting more in the fall!

All best,

Matt 

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Matthew Ferraro AIA
Principal
WEISS/MANFREDI
New York, NY
AIA NY LGBTQIA+ Alliance Co-Chair
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Hi Matthew,

How wonderful to see that AIA New York is pushing for all-gender bathrooms in NY. We here in California converted all of the single accommodation bathrooms to all-gender in 2017 and it was a seamless operation to be able to accommodate everyone, whatever their physical ability, age, or gender. 

I have been working on a project to influence policy at the national level, addressing the regressive laws that are on the books in 20+ states that prevent trans and gender non-conforming people to use the bathroom of their identity in public buildings. This is an architectural and civil rights issue. As architects, it is in our purview to accommodate and provide bathrooms for everyone in the public sphere.

To that end, we are having a zoom presentation with stakeholders from the trans, legal and architectural communities coming together on Monday, Sept. 22 from 1-2pm PST with the intent to hone a policy statement to present to AIA National for their adoption of and advocacy for providing equitable restroom accommodation for all people.  It is being hosted by AIA/LA, and I hope you can join us! It is free for everyone to join the call, you just need to sign up. Here is the link:

Link to AIA/LA Zoom: Equitable Restroom Accommodation

Best,

Eve Reynolds

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Eve Reynolds AIA
Arcolution LLC
Los Angeles CA
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